A PASTOR'S APPEALS. 



A 



PASTOR'S APPEALS: 



A SERIES OF 



wmona on Jmporlant JSulrjda 



CONNECTED WITH 



CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND EXPERIENCE. 



J ACOB HELFFENSTEIN, D. D. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
HENRY B . ASHMEAD, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, 
Nos. 1102 and 1104 Sansom Street. 
1861. 



JET/7 5-7 7 

t ft i f Js 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861. 

BY JACOB HELFFENSTEIN. D. D., 

la tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania. 



TO 

THE BELOVED PEOPLE OF HIS CHAEGE, 

WHOM HE HAS LONG SERVED IN THE 

MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL, 

is 

THIS VOLUME RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 

BY 

THEIR FRIEND AND PASTOR, 

THE AUTHOR, 



1* 



PREFACE. 



Another volume of Sermons ! Is not the supply 
already abundant? Will it be read? Will it 
accomplish any good? To these questions we 
have only to say: We have followed our convic- 
tions of duty,— results we leave with God. We 
know that a Sermon, as it appears in print, is 
often a very different thing from what it is as 
it falls from the lips of the living preacher. 
Printed Sermons, however, are not necessarily 
dry, and we regard it as one of the favorable 
signs of the times, that productions of this kind 
are increasingly in demand, and are, perhaps, 
more extensively read than in almost any pre- 
vious age. 

The following Discourses were prepared by the 
author in his ordinary course of ministerial duty, 



viii PREFACE. 

and without any direct reference to publication. 
They are now committed to the press, with the 
earnest desire and expectation that they may sub- 
serve the cause of truth, holiness and salvation. 



Germantown, Pa., April 10th, 1861. 



CONTENTS. 



SERMON I. 

PAGE 

PARADISE LOST 13 

SERMON II. 

PARADISE REGAINED . . . . . . 31 

SERMON III. 

ANGELIC RESEARCH 53 

SERMON IT. 

HUMAN DEPRAVITY ...... 78 

SERMON V. 

THE EOUNTAIN OPENED; OR, HEAVEN'S ANTIDOTE 

FOR SIN 92 



X^ CONTENTS. 

SERMON VI. 

PAGE 

THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS . . . Ill 

SERMON VII. 

THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE . . . 134 

SERMON VIII. 

MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL . . . 156 

SERMON IX. 

N A AM AN 3 THE SYRIAN LEPER ) OR ; PROUD MAN RE- 
JECTING A FREE SALVATION . . . 176 

SERMON X. 

REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE . . 196 

SERMON XI. 

FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED . . . 215 

SERMON XII. 

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN DIVINE AND HUMAN 

AGENCY IN THE WORK OF SALVATION . 237 

SERMON XIII. 

EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY . 255 



CONTENTS. Xi 
SERMON XIV. 

PA9H 

THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT .... 274 

SERMON XV. 

THE TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CHAR- 
ACTER ....... 292 

SERMON XVI. 

HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION . . . . 312 

SERMON XVII. 

TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE . . 334 



SERMON L 



PARADISE LOST, 

So he drove out the man : and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, 
cherubini ; and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the 
way of the tree of life. — Gen. iii. 24. 

There is no event recorded either on the page 
of sacred or profane history, in which man has a 
deeper interest, than the circumstances of his sad 
and ruinous apostacy. How came man to fall 
from his original integrity, and to involve himself 
in guilt and misery ? The question is one which 
has perplexed the human mind in all ages of the 
world. The fact that our race has degenerated, 
that sin everywhere prevails, and that its dreadful 
ravages are everywhere felt, is too palpable to be 
overlooked or ignored. But how are we to account 
for the melancholy fact ? How came man to de- 
generate ? Why is he not now what it might be 
supposed he must have been when he first came 
from the hand of his benevolent Creator ? This 
problem the Bible alone can solve. The single 
chapter before us throws more light on this deeply 
interesting, yet mysterious subject, than was eli- 

2 



14 



PARADISE LOST. 



cited by the profoundest researches of human 
reason for centuries. It is a chapter full of in- 
struction and warning. The inspired penman had 
just recorded the history of man's wonderful crea- 
tion; here he records the affecting story of his 
moral ruin. 

The subject of our present discourse will be 
Paradise Lost. 

We propose to consider the occasion and cir- 
cumstances of this loss, together with the fearful 
evils which it involves. 

I. Hoiv was Paradise lost ? 

When God had created the earth with its sub- 
lime and variegated scenery, he finally, as the 
crowning act, called into being man. Him he 
formed in his own image, and after his own like- 
ness, endowing him not only with a spiritual nature 
by which he was allied to the author of his exist- 
ence, but also with a character that assimilated 
him to infinite purity. " God made man upright," 
" created him in righteousness and true holiness." 

Possessed of the powers of moral agency, he 
became the proper subject of law — a law which 
in its essential properties was the same as that 
which was subsequently proclaimed from Mount 
Sinai, and which was engraved on tables of stone, 
as a rule of conduct to man in every age. 



PARADISE LOST. 



15 



As a particular test of their fidelity, the primi- 
tive pair were also laid under a specific and posi- 
tive injunction, by which they were prohibited 
from a certain indulgence, under the penalty of 
death. " Of every tree of the garden thou mayest 
freely eat ; but of the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the 
day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely 
die." This tree probably received its name from 
the fact that Adam, by eating of its fruit, would 
" acquire the knowledge of good by losing % and 
of evil by experiencing it." 

This prohibition furnished the occasion of the 
temptation which was afterwards suggested, and 
by which man was enticed into sin. Moved with 
enmity against God, and with envy towards the 
happy pair, Satan now ventures upon the bold 
attempt to spoil the work of the Creator s hands, 
and plunge our race into misery and ruin. 

Concealing himself under the form of a serpent, 
he makes his assault with the utmost sagacity. 
On a certain occasion, as the mother of our race 
walks abroad unattended by her companion, she 
approaches the interdicted tree. The fruit hung 
bending from its branches, in all its attractions ; 
but remembering the prohibition of her Maker, 
she recoiled at the very idea of eating or even 
touching it. The enemy, who had been lurking 



16 



PARADISE LOST. 



in the shades of Paradise, watching the most 
favorable moment of assault, now presents himself 
under the appearance of an innocent and perhaps 
beautiful animal, and succeeds in securing the 
attention of the enraptured woman. She gazes 
upon the form before her with intense pleasure, 
when suddenly the fascinating creature accosts 
her with the inquiry, " Hath God said ye shall not 
eat of every tree of the garden ?" Fixing her eye 
upon the tempting fruit, she replied, " We may 
not eat of it, lest we die." The tempter now 
suggests that there must certainly be some mistake 
here, recommends her to put the matter to a test, 
assuring her that the inviting fruit, so far from 
doing her any injury, would communicate to her 
superior wisdom — that she would be as God, 
knowing good and evil. The point was gained. 
Eve gazes upon the fruit with an eager desire to 
ascertain the truth of the assertion, and forgetting, 
at that unguarded moment, the prohibition of 
Heaven, she stretched forth her hand and ate, and 
by that one rash act sealed her doom, together 
with the doom of all her posterity. 

Such is the brief yet melancholy record of man's 
apostacy. Whatever difficulties may be supposed 
to be connected with it, the facts are not to be 
questioned. We are told that the punishment is 
altogether disproportioned to the crime. Infidelity 



PARADISE LOST, 



17 



sneers at the idea that the simple act of eating an 
apple, as it has chosen to call the fruit, could 
entail such unutterable evil. 

It must be admitted, however, that as the sove- 
reign ruler of the Universe, God has a perfect 
right to establish such tests of obedience as, in his 
infinite wisdom, he may see proper. It was for 
him to say what fruits of the garden might be 
eaten, and what might be interdicted. In making 
the prohibition he was influenced solely by bene- 
volence. He desired not the misery of his crea- 
tures, but their happiness, secured to them as the 
reward of their tried and unwavering obedience. 
The injunction, moreover, was one - easy to be 
kept, and for the violation of which there could 
be no excuse. Surrounded with fruits of every 
variety, which the primitive pair were permitted 
to eat without restraint, what possible inducement 
could there be to disregard the command of their 
Maker in reference to that single tree ? 

The act was entirely voluntary. Tempted as 
they were, they freely yielded to the temptation. 
If they had power to fall, they had also power to 
stand. 

The sin, though an individual act, was marked 
with peculiar aggravations — involving unbelief, 
pride, ambition, presumption, and the basest in- 
gratitude. It admitted, therefore, of no apology 

2* 



18 



PARADISE LOST. 



or palliation. Tte very attempt of the trans- 
gressors to justify themselves betrays their guilt, 
and the verdict of conscience fully sanctions the 
verdict of Heaven. 

The sinfulness of an action depends not on its 
comparative insignificance, but upon its relation to 
the law of God. The violation of any divine 
command, unimportant as it may appear in itself, 
involves the principle of rebellion, and virtually 
dissolves every tie of moral obligation that binds 
us to the Eternal throne. It is an explicit decla- 
ration of independence of the divine government, 
an insurrection against the divine supremacy, and 
a bold attempt to wrest the sceptre of dominion 
from Jehovah's hands. It is an open avowal of 
our determination to set up our own judgment and 
will in opposition to those of the All-wise Ruler of 
the Universe ; of our purpose to walk according 
to the sight of our eyes, and the desire of our 
hearts, regardless of any higher authority or power. 
Thus, whosoever offends in one point becomes 
guilty of the whole. 

Call not, then, any act of transgression trivial. 
Go back to Paradise, and see what a single sin has 
done. That single sin has robbed us of our Eden, 
and a single sin, unrepented of, will close the gates 
of heaven against us forever. 



PARADISE LOST. 



19 



II. We have now seen how Paradise was lost ; 
let us next consider what this loss involves. 

1. It includes the loss of the place. With the 
name of Eden we associate everything lovely and 
blissful. The very name signifies pleasure. It 
was a garden planted by God himself as the happy 
residence of the primitive pair, and abounding 
with everything that could please the eye, gratify 
the taste, or in any way administer enjoyment to 
the senses. Not a plant, flower, or tree is wanting 
to complete the charm. Refreshing streams dif- 
fused themselves over the whole extent, imparting 
the richest verdure and fertility, while the air con- 
tinually resounded with notes of sweetest melody 
- — the feathered tribes all joining with man, the 
Lord of creation, to render to their Maker their 
hymns of praise. 

" There youthful springs salute the enraptured eye, 
Unfading verdure, and a gladsome sky ; 
Eternal zephyrs through the groves prevail, 
And incense breathes in every balmy gale ; 
No irksome change the unvaried climate knows, 
Of heat alternate, and alternate snows. 
A genial power the tender herbage feeds, 
And decks with every sweet the smiling meads, 
Diffuses soft perfume from every flower, 
And clothes with lasting shade each rural bower," 

Among the various productions that abounded 
in that scene of beauty, was "the tree of life;" 



20 



PARADISE LOST. 



so denominated because it was the pledge or sym- 
bol of perpetual life. To this tree, there is evi- 
dent allusion in the description given by John of 
the New Jerusalem : " In the midst of the street 
of it, and on either side of the river, was there 
the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of 
fruits, and yielded her fruit every month ; and the 
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the 
nations." 

Changed as is the aspect of our world in conse- 
quence of sin, there are still spots upon which the 
eye dwells with rapture — scenes of beauty and 
sublimity, which it is impossible to behold but 
with unspeakable admiration and pleasure. What, 
then, must have been the abode of man in inno- 
cency ? Order, beauty and variety, presented 
themselves at every view; and everything that 
could tend, both to the highest sensitive and in- 
tellectual enjoyment, was possessed in the richest 
abundance. 

Such was the happy home of our first parents 
previous to their sad defection, and from which 
they are now driven under the displeasure of 
heaven. As life had now been forfeited, it is un- 
fit that they should any longer have access to the 
appointed seal. " So he drove out the man ; and 
he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, che- 
rubims, and a flaming sword, which turned every 
way to keep the way of the tree of life." 



PARADISE LOST. 



21 



How reluctantly must they have left the spot 
endeared to them by so many attractions, and con- 
nected with such delightful associations ! How 
wishfully must they have looked, for the last time, 
upon all they were now leaving ; and how bitter 
their reflections that they had made the forfeiture 
by their own folly ! " It is always painful/ 5 says 
a certain writer, "to quit a favorite spot. The 
heart lingers long behind, and employs the pencil 
of memory to paint the absent scene. Adam and 
Eve must have experienced inexpressible emotions 
when driven from their primeval residence, where 
all the elements, all the seasons, and all beings 
had contributed to their enjoyment. Never, never 
could they forget those landscapes on which the 
eye paused with rapture ; never, never could they 
cease to remember its rich productions, its oft-fre- 
quented vales, and hills, and rivers, and woods ; 
never, never could they obliterate from their me- 
mory the bright sunshine of heavenly love that 
beamed upon them there." 

How affecting the lamentation of Eve, as thus 
described by the author of " Paradise Lost." 

" G, unexpected stroke, worse than of death ! 
Must I thus leave thee, Paradise ! Thus leave 
Thee, native soil ! These happy walls and shades, 
Fit haunt of gods ? Where I had hope to spend, 
Quiet, though sad, the respite of that day 
That must be mortal to us both. 0 flowers, 



22 



PARADISE LOST. 



That never will in other climate grow, 

My early visitation and my last, 

At even, which I bred up with tender hand 

From the first opening bud, and gave you names. 

Who now shall rear you to the sun, or rank 

Your tribes and water from the ambrosial fount ; 

Thee, lastly nuptial bower, by me adorned. 

"With what to sight, or smell, was sweet, from thee 

How shall I part, and whither wander down 

Into a lower world, to this obscure 

And wild ? How shall we breathe in other air 

Less pure, accustomed to immortal fruits?" 

2. Connected with the loss of Paradise, was 
also the loss of the divine friendship and favor. In 
their innocency, the first pair enjoyed the most 
intimate communion with their Maker. Then 
they could speak to him as a familiar friend, and 
the smile of his face constituted their highest fe- 
licity. Nor is it improbable that in some visible 
or sensible manner he was accustomed to manifest 
to them his regard. Thus, we read of his speak- 
ing directly to them, and subsequently, of his 
voice being heard in the cool of the day in the 
garden. 

But now the tie that bound them to their Father 
and friend is dissolved, and all intercourse between 
heaven and earth is cut off. No longer could God 
look upon the creature, once bearing his own moral 
likeness, but now defiled with sin, with the least 
approbation ; while man, instead of courting the 



PARADISE LOST. 



23 



divine presence, flees from it in confusion and 
dread. 0, misery of miseries, thus to be separated 
from the fountain of life and bliss ! What in crea- 
tion can make up the sad loss ? Who but the 
eternal God himself can ever satisfy the boundless 
desires of the human heart, and constitute for it 
any adequate portion ? What a dreary waste 
must this world have appeared to man after the 
light of heaven had thus been extinguished ! 
Everything around him wore the aspect of gloom. 
Every flower would appear to droop ; the feathered 
tribes appeared as if they had suspended their 
songs ; and nature everywhere gave " signs of woe 
that all was lost/' 

3. Man now became the victim of remorse and 
painful forebodings. From the moment that he 
sinned, all his peace and hopes withered. He felt 
that he had fallen from his original dignity, and 
that his nature had become degraded and cor- 
rupted. As a transgressor, conscious guilt weighs 
upon his spirit, and in fearful suspense, he dreads 
the speedy execution of deserved vengeance. 
Wherever he looks, he imagines that he beholds 
the tokens of evil. Every rustling leaf leads him 
to shrink back with horror. Every sound becomes 
one of terror ; and in his folly, he endeavors to 
hide himself from the eye of Omniscience in the 
thick shades of the garden. How startling the 



24 



PARADISE LOST, 



summons that reached him in his imagined shel- 
ter ! "Adam, where art thou ?" He endeavors 
to justify his act; but the very plea he offers only 
establishes his guilt. The trembling fugitives cast 
the blame upon each other ; they even have the 
effrontery to implicate their Maker ; but there is 
a witness within them that testifies to their guilt, 
and pronounces them worthy of death. 

4. Man now fell under the fearful penalty of 
heaven. "In the day thou eatest thereof/' — that 
is, of the forbidden fruit, — "thou shalt surely 
die or more literally, " dying, thou shalt die." 
Spiritually, he had died already. He was dead in 
trespasses and in sins • — dead to all spiritual per- 
ceptions- — dead to all holy affections — dead to all 
sacred enjoyments. And now, too, his body be- 
came mortal. The seed of dissolution began to 
work in his system, until the fair fabric should be 
laid in utter ruins, and dust should return to its 
original dust. 

The very ground is cursed for his sake, and in- 
stead of its former productiveness, it is doomed to 
sterility; and in the sweat of his face man must 
henceforth eat his bread. 

Earth, before a Paradise, becomes a vale of 
tears. Man s life becomes one of toil and sorrow, 
of disappointment and vexation. He is born to 
trouble, as the sparks fly upward. The whole 



PARADISE LOST. 



25 



creation groaneth and travaileth in pain under the 
direful curse. 

But this is not all. Man became justly liable to 
eternal death. Had he been dealt with according to 
his deserts, he would at once have been consigned to 
uniningled wretchedness and despair. Hope would 
have fled forever. The frown of God would have 
withered his spirit, and the undying worm of re- 
morse would have preyed upon him in all its ter- 
rors. Such, undoubtedly, would have been his 
destiny, had the penalty of the violated law been 
fully carried into execution, and had infinite mercy 
made no provision for his redemption. 

5. The consequences of the apostacy did not ter- 
minate with the first offenders, but have extended 
themselves to all their unhappy posterity. Such was 
the relation which Adam bore to the race, that his 
character is their character, his ruin their ruin. 
Had he retained his original integrity, there is 
reason to believe that his descendants would have 
been secured in their obedience also. His fall be- 
came the fall of humanity, rendering it absolutely 
certain that we should all inherit the same moral 
nature, and involve ourselves in the same condem- 
nation. Not that we are punished for his sin irre- 
spective of oar personal depravity and guilt ; but his 
disobedience has so vitiated our constitution, and 

3 



26 



PARADISE LOST. 



placed us in such circumstances, that as soon as 
we begin to act at all, we invariably act wrong. 

We pretend not to speculate on this awful and 
mysterious subject. All we have to do is with 
the simple fact as revealed to us in the scriptures, 
and as confirmed by our own experience and ob- 
servation. The curse which fell upon our first 
parents has evidently fallen upon us all. Every 
one that contemplates the havoc which death is 
making in our world, together with the labor and 
toil required of man, to cultivate the earth, and ob- 
tain the means of subsistence, must see that the 
sentence respects not the first pair only, but all 
their posterity. The effects of the apostacy are 
every where visible. Every grave, every funeral, 
every disease, and infirmity, reminds us that our 
earth is under the frown of Heaven. " By the 
offence of one judgment has come unto all men to 
condemnation." " By one man sin entered into 
the world, and death by sin, and so death has 
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned/' 

REMARKS. 

1. We may learn from this subject that our danger 
is often greatest when tve feel the least apprehension. 
It was so in the present instance. Even in the 
delightful walks of Paradise, there was an enemy 
plotting the ruin of our race. And that same 



PARADISE LOST. 



27 



enemy Is still abroad in the world, endeavoring by 
all his arts to decoy us into sin, and plunge us into 
ruin. With the same malignant hatred, he is 
striving to perpetuate the evils which he has en- 
tailed, He approaches us, just as he did Eve, at 
the most favorable moment, and in the most in- 
sinuating manner. He understands our frame, and 
our circumstances, and adapts his temptations to 
each specific case. He gains access to us through 
the eye, the ear, and the various appetites and in- 
stincts of our nature. And such is our natural 
tendency to evil, that our hearts often yield a ready 
response to his seductions. If he could exert such 
power over minds yet uncorrupted, how imminent 
must be our danger, prone as we are to sin as the 
sparks fly upward. Where, then, is our security ? 
Certainlv not in ourselves. Who among us can 
grapple successfully with a foe so insidious and 
powerful ? We must guard against his assaults. 
We must watch and pray that we enter not into 
temptation ; or, if enticed to evil, distrusting our 
own strength, we must fly to God as our only re- 
fuge. Our defence is in him alone. " Put on the 
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand 
against the wiles of the devil ;" " Be strong in the 
Lord, and in the power of his might." Beware, 
" lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, 
through his subtilty, so your minds should be cor- 
rupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 



28 



PARADISE LOST. 



2. Another remark suggested by this subject is 
this : Hoiv infinite must he the displeasure of God 
against sin. It is to sin we are to trace all the 
woes that have fallen upon our race. Sin has 
closed against us the gates of Paradise, shut us out 
from communion with Heaven, alienated us from 
the great source of moral excellence, darkened 
our understandings, perverted our affections, and 
filled us with the fore-bodings of coming wrath. 
Sin has planted every thorn, occasioned every 
pang, and dug every grave. 0 ! sin, what hast 
thou not done ! But for sin, suffering would be 
wholly unknown. Our earth would still have re- 
mained a Paradise, and humanity retained all its 
original dignity and glory. Think of what man 
was once ; think of what he is now. How has the 
crown fallen from his head ! How has the bright 
gold become dim ! Oh ! what a fall was that when 
he no longer kept his first estate, how deep, how 
ruinous, how hopeless ! 

Who, then, can trifle with sin ? Who can flatter 
himself with the hope of impunity ? " The wrath 
of God is revealed from heaven, against all ungod- 
liness and unrighteousness of men." From the 
consequences of sin there can be no escape, save 
through the provisions of the gospel. " Be sure 
your sin will find you out." 

3. How deeply affecting is the condition of every 



PARADISE LOST. 



29 



unredeemed man. Just what the primitive pair 
were, after their deplorable fall, every man, yet 
out of Christ, is now. You inherit the same cor- 
rupt nature ; you are equally destitute of the holy 
image of your Maker ; you lie under the same sen- 
tence of condemnation; you are exposed to the 
same complicated woes ; and you are as utterly 
ruined and helpless. Your fall is not partial but 
total. The contagion of sin has spread throughout 
your whole moral nature ; and when its ravages 
are finnished, the result must be death eternal. 
Oh ! what a melancholy spectacle is man in his 
moral ruin ! man wherever he may be found ; man 
in Christian as well as in heathen lands ; man with 
all the refinements of social life, and with all his 
natural virtues and amiability. Possessed as he is 
still of all his original faculties, the whole ma- 
chinery of his nature is spiritually deranged. All 
his powers are under a fearful blight. Though 
made for the enjoyment of God, he is separated 
from him at an immeasurable distance. Though 
formed to glorify God, he lives wholly for himself. 
Such, 0 man, is thy condition, — a wanderer from 
God ; and, what is still more affecting, no disposi- 
tion to return, revolting more and more, until the 
alienation becomes final and immutable. Oh ! that 
you did but realize your misery while yet there is 
hope. Oh ! that we could hear from your lips 

3* 



30 



PARADISE LOST. 



some expression of solicitude to escape from a con- 
dition so deplorable and alarming. Never will you 
be in serious earnest to be saved, until you are 
convinced that you are lost. You must know the 
depth of your apostacy, or you can never know the 
preciousness of redemption. 



SERMON XL 



PARADISE REGAINED, 

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in 
the midst of the paradise of God. — Rev. ii. 7. 

In a former discourse, we contemplated Para- 
dise Lost, The subject of the present will be Para- 
dise Regained. 

Sad, indeed, would have been our condition, had 
the Scriptures closed with the melancholy tale of 
human apostacy. Man, though created but a "little 
lower than the angels," is exhibited to us as 
plunged into the deepest guilt and misery. From 
this ruin, he has no power to recover himself. The 
blessings which he has forfeited, he can never re- 
gain by any act of his own. If he is ever re- 
deemed, his deliverance must come from some other 
source. But who will undertake the stupendous 
work ? Who will make an adequate atonement 
for sin ? Who will open the passage to the tree of 
life ? Who will restore a nature so utterly fallen 
and degenerate ? Midnight darkness broods over 
our race. Angels may weep, yet have they no 



32 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



power to save ; but, lo, a voice is heard, " The seed 
of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." 
That was the first dawn of hope to the desponding 
mind of man; the first intimation of a Saviour, 
through whose atoning blood sinners were to be 
rescued from the power of the enemy, and rein- 
stated to the divine favor. The tempter had re- 
garded his purpose as fully accomplished ; hence- 
forth, he claims this world as his own. " These 
hills, these valleys, these rivers, these beings, are 
now mine, and I will employ them for my own 
purposes." His triumph appears complete. The 
condition of our race appears as utterly hopeless. 
But he who had permitted the fall of man, had 
purposed to make it the occasion of the most glo- 
rious display of his own power and grace. The 
Scriptures not only make known to us our spirit- 
ual malady, but also our all-sufficient remedy ; not 
only our fall in Adam, but also our redemption in 
Christ. Paradise, though lost, may be restored ; 
for thus it is written, " To him that overcometh 
will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in 
the midst of the paradise of God." 

I. Let us consider hy whom our Lost Paradise is 
restored. 

This wonderful achievement is accomplished by 
no other than J esus Christ, " the second Adam f 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



33 



for, " as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be 
made alive." "If through the offence of one 
many be dead, much more the grace of God, and 
the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus 
Christ, hath abounded unto many. As by the of- 
fence of one judgment came upon all men to con- 
demnation, even so by the righteousness of one, 
the free gift came upon all men unto justification 
of life ; for as by one man's disobedience many 
were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall 
many be made righteous." 

The evident idea of the Apostle is, that Christ 
sustains a relation to our race similar to that which 
was sustained by Adam; that as the fall of the one 
has involved the depravity and ruin of all his pos- 
terity, so the mediation of the other lays the 
ground for the restoration of all, who, in the exer- 
cise of faith, are united to him as their spiritual 
head, and become personally interested in his pur- 
chased redemption. 

Wonderful, indeed, was the manner in which the 
Son of God secured for us our lost inheritance. 

First of all, he takes upon him that very nature 
which he designs to restore. " The word was 
made flesh." He became a man, like ourselves; 
assuming both a human body and a human soul, sin 
only excepted ; for it was " the seed of the woman," 
who, according to the first promise, was to " bruise 



84 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



the serpent's head." " Forasmuch as the children 
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself 
likewise took part of the same ; for verily he took 
not on him the nature of angels, but he took on 
him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things 
it behooved him, to be made like unto his breth- 
ren." (Heb. ii. 14-17.) 

This was a step indispensably necessary. The 
Son of God must obey and suffer in the same na- 
ture that had sinned ; and possessing as he does, 
all the feelings of our humanity, he knows how to 
sympathize with our condition, and to represent 
our cause before the throne, where he " ever liveth 
to make intercession for us." 

Another important part of the work of Christ, 
in recovering our lost paradise, consisted in honor- 
ing the divine law, and manifesting the displeasure of 
God against sin. 

God exercises over intelligent beings a moral 
government. He has placed them all under a law 
of the highest perfection, obedience to which is in- 
dispensable to the happiness of the moral universe. 
To maintain the authority of that law, it is neces- 
sary that every transgression should " receive its 
just recompense of reward." When man sinned, 
he fell under the threatened penalty. How, then, 
can that penalty be remitted, without, at the same 
time, weakening the force of the precept, and di- 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



35 



minishing the lustre of the eternal throne ? The 
fearful sentence had gone forth, " the soul that sin- 
neth it shall die." If the sinner is now pardoned, 
what becomes of the divine veracity, the divine 
justice, the divine honor ? In some way must the 
Sovereign of Creation manifest his regard to the 
violated law, and his infinite abhorrence of sin, or 
his throne must be subverted, and his authority be 
brought into utter contempt. The atonement was 
an expedient designed to meet these very difficul- 
ties, answering all the purposes of the actual pun- 
ishment of the transgressor himself, and thus open- 
ing the way for the consistent exercise of mercy 
towards all the truly penitent and believing. " God 
sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under 
the law, to redeem them that were under the law." 
" Him hath God set forth to be a propitiation 
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteous- 
ness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him 
which belie veth in Jesus." 

Thus has the Son of God, by his obedience unto 
death, magnified the law, and made it honorable. 
He has proclaimed its justice, and armed it even 
with double power. He has shown that its autho- 
rity can never be set aside ; that its violation is 
an infinite evil, while, at the same time, he has 
rendered the pardon of the guilty possible, and re- 
moved every hinderance to their salvation, but 



86 



PARADISE RE&AINEDo 



what exists in their own voluntary refusal of the 
mercy revealed to them in the gospel. 

To defeat the malignant designs of Satan, and 
to rescue his miserable subjects from their thral- 
dom, it was necessary that the Son of God should 
meet the adversary in personal combat, and prove him- 
self the victor. Painful, indeed, was the struggle, 
The tempter had already succeeded in his assault 
upon the first Adam, and now he flatters himself 
that he will be equally successful in his assault 
upon the second ; and thus effectually defeat the 
whole purpose of human redemption. The parties 
meet. The strife begins. All heaven is moved. 
Such a contest had never been witnessed before, 
and will never be witnessed again. On its issue is 
suspended the fate of a world. The Son of God 
resists even unto blood ; but sore and protracted 
as is the combat, he comes off victorious; he bruises 
the serpent's head. The prince of this world could 
find nothing in him. The mighty conqueror 
having spoiled principalities and powers, made a 
show of them openly, triumphing over them." 
u The Apostle alludes to the manner of a Roman 
triumph, in which the conqueror was drawn in a 
chariot of state, attended by his officers and sol- 
diers ; the principal prisoners followed in chains ; 
and all the treasures and trophies gained from the 
vanquished enemy, were displayed to adorn the 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



37 



procession. Thus Messiah subdued the strength 
and policy of the powers of darkness, in the hour 
of his lowest humiliation, when he hung and ex- 
pired upon the cross, and triumphed over them, 
gloriously leading captivity captive, when he as- 
cended on high. Satan, though still an enemy to 
his church and cause, is despoiled of his dominion; 
his power is only permissive, and in his fiercest 
assaults, he is limited by bounds which he cannot 
pass ; by a chain which he cannot break. And 
all his attempts are controlled and overruled to the 
furtherance of the cause which he would suppress, 
and to the good of the persons whom he would 
worry and destroy." — Newton. 

II. We have seen by whom Paradise is restored : 
let us now consider to whom it is restored, or the 
characters who are to enjoy this unspeakable privi- 
lege : " To him that overcometh will I give to eat 
of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the 
Paradise of God." 

To overcome expresses both conflict and victory. 
u The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and 
the violent take it by force." No man can be 
saved without a contest. As the enemy assaulted 
the Master, so will he also assault the disciples. 
" We w r restle not with flesh and blood, but with 



4 



38 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness 
in high places." 

A life of piety begins with a warfare. While 
the strong man holds the palace, his goods are in 
peace, but no sooner does the sinner attempt to 
break away from his spiritual thraldom than he 
enters upon a strife. Reluctant to yield the power 
which he has so long maintained, the adversary 
leaves no means untried to hold fast his subjects ; 
at one time, perhaps, suggesting that their condi- 
tion is wholly desperate, and that all efforts, there- 
fore, to escape will be utterly unavailing ; at an- 
other, that as they may find a more favorable sea- 
son in future, they might as well dismiss all idea of 
attending to their salvation for the present. What 
a painful struggle now goes on within a man's 
heart, between duty and inclination, between con- 
science and feeling. What numerous difficulties 
appear to lie in the way of his return to God. 
Temptation succeeds temptation, and none but he 
who is " stronger than the strong man armed," can 
insure the victory. Happy they who through di- 
vine grace are enabled to overcome in this hour of 
conflict, and who are " translated from the king- 
dom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear 
Son." 

But does the strife now end ? Far, very far 
from it. The whole life of a Christian is one of 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



39 



warfare. Every step he takes in the way to 
heaven, is over disputed ground. New temptations 
assail him from day to day. The enemy meets 
him at every turn, continually varying his mode of 
assault according to circumstances. Sometimes he 
assumes the form of a " roaring lion/' and strives 
to terrify ; at other times, the form of " an angel 
of light/' with the view to deceive. No arts, no 
stratagems does he leave unemployed to draw the 
soul back to its former bondage, and triumph over 
its ultimate ruin. 

But blessed be God, the Christian not only 
fights ; he also overcomes. u In all these things we 
are more than conquerors through him that loved 
us." 

This triumph is achieved alone by faith in the 
blood of the lamb. " This is the victory that over- 
cometh the world, even our faith." "And they 
overcame by the blood of the lamb, and by the 
word of their testimony." 

" I asked them whence their victory came, 
They, with united breath, 
Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb ; 
Their triumph to his death." 

III. We proceed now to inquire, What is included 
in Paradise regained. 

1. It includes the remission of the legal penalty 



40 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



under which man hy transgression has fallen. As a 
sinner he lies under sentence of death, not merely 
death temporal, but death eternal. The execution 
of that sentence may for a while be suspended, but 
it still rests upon him in all its untold horrors. 
From this condemnation there is no deliverance 
but by pardon, and that pardon can be extended 
only through the mediation of Christ. Until the 
sinner is pardoned he can have no security, no hope, 
no peace. But no sooner is the curse removed, 
than he is placed in a new position. There is now 
no more any condemnation. Over him the second 
death has no power; he has peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ; and having thus become 
reconciled to God through the blood of the cross, 
he is placed in a new relation, and becomes fully 
entitled to all the privileges of the New Covenant. 
" Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's 
elect ? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that 
condemneth ? It is Christ that died." " I," says 
Jesus, " have poured out my blood for that trem- 
bling sinner. The curse that he so justly merited, 
has fallen upon me. I was wounded for his trans- 
gressions, and bruised for his iniquities ; and now, 
clinging as he does to my cross as his only refuge, 
pleading my merits as his only hope, shall he still 
be suffered to perish ? Never, never shall he again 
fall under condemnation. Henceforth his sins, 
however numerous, are all fully remitted forever.'' 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



41 



2. Paradise regained implies not only a restora- 
tion to the divine favor, but also to the divine im- 
age, the same moral image in which man was 
created, and which was effaced by the apostacy. 
Hence, believers are said to be " renewed in the 
spirit of their minds, after the image of him who 
created them" — to be partakers of the divine nature, 
partakers of the divine holiness. " We all, with 
open face, beholding as in a glass, the glory of the 
Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory 
to glory." 

At present the resemblance, indeed, is far from 
being complete. There are blemishes that still 
adhere to the best men. The process of assimila- 
tion to the divine likeness is, however, going for- 
ward, and when finished, the Son of God will pre- 
sent his church before the throne of his Father, 
u without spot or wrinkle." The last stain of moral 
corruption will now be effectually removed, and 
human nature, once sunk to such depths of sin and 
misery, will be fully restored both to its original 
purity and happiness. 

3. Paradise regained implies, also, a restoration 
to a state of intimate and endearing communion tvith 
God. With such communion man was favored pre- 
vious to his apostacy. The most affectionate and 
delightful intercourse was then kept up between 
the Creator and the creature. This intercourse, 

4* 



42 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



interrupted by sin, is renewed in man's redemption. 
We who were sometime afar off, are now brought 
nigh by the blood of Christ. Again are we per- 
mitted to approach God with confidence, and pour 
out our hearts to him with freedom. He adopts 
us into his family, receives us to his paternal arms, 
visits us with the tokens of his love, and deeply 
sympathizes with us in all our wants and sorrows. 
" Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his 
son Jesus Christ." 

This fellowship commenced on earth, is consum- 
ated in heaven. There we shall dwell in his 
immediate presence, behold him without a veil, and 
rejoice forever in the light of his face. " As for 
me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness, I shall 
be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness." 

4. Paradise regained includes, further, the re- 
storation of the body to a state of immortality \ The 
primitive state of man was an embodied state, and 
such also will be his state when his redemption is 
complete. " We wait for the adoption, to wit, the 
redemption of our body." " I will ransom them 
from the power of the grave. I will redeem them 
from death : 0 ! death, I will be thy plagues ; 0 ! 
grave, I will be thy destruction." " This corrup- 
tible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall 
put on immortality." 

All those infirmities and diseases which sin has 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



43 



brought on the human system, will now be done 
away. The redeemed, it is said, " shall hunger no 
more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the 
sun light on them, nor any heat," " God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall 
be no more death ; neither sorrow nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain; for the 
former things are passed way." 

The model of the believer's resurrection will not 
be the body of Adam, even in its original state of 
incorruption and beauty, but the glorified body of 
the Son of God ; thus exalting our entire nature to 
the highest possible dignity and perfection. We are 
to bear not the image of the earthly, but the image 
of the heavenly. " He shall change our vile body, 
and fashion it like unto his glorious body, accord- 
ing to the working whereby he is able even to sub- 
due all things unto himself." 

Not only will the body of the believer be raised, 
but greatly improved. However "fearfully and 
wonderfully" it may now be made, it can bear no 
comparison, in its organization and appearance, to 
the glorious body that will burst forth from the 
tomb on the morning of the resurrection. " It is 
sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; it 
is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory ; it is 
sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown 
a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." 



44 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



Thus it is that the Son of God was manifested 
to destroy the works of the devil. His triumph 
will be complete. Even the last enemy shall be 
destroyed, and death shall be swallowed in victory. 

The glorious enterprise of rescuing this ruined 
world from the hands of the destroyer is going 
forward. Millions already redeemed unto God, 
are presented before the throne as the rich trophies 
of a Redeemer's grace ; and millions more, yet 
unborn, shall be given to him as the conquests of 
his love, and as the crown of his eternal rejoicing. 

The judgment day will be the day of final and 
complete redemption. That will be "the time of 
the restitution of all things." The Son of God 
will now subdue all things to himself, and while 
he effectually puts his foes beneath his feet, he 
will bear away with triumph the innumerable 
hosts of the ransomed to "a kingdom that cannot 
be moved." Then the earth itself shall be deli- 
vered from the physical effects of the apostacy, 
and probably restored to its pristine beauty ; for 
it is to this renovation the apostle appears to refer 
when he says, " The earnest expectation of the 
creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons 
of God ; for the creature was made subject to 
vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who 
hath subjected the same in hope; because the 
creature itself also shall be delivered from the 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



45 



bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of 
the sons of God." "The heavens/' says Peter, 
" being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements 
shall melt with fervent heat; nevertheless we, 
according to his promise, look for new heavens 
and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 

We have been speaking of Paradise regained, 
but we may advance still further— it will be more 
than regained. 

Delightful as was the Eden of the primitive 
pair, we have reason to believe that the abode of 
the redeemed will be far superior. Instead of an 
earthly paradise they shall inherit a heavenly. 

" There happier bowers than Eden's bloom, 
Nor sin nor sorrow know ; 
Blest seats ! through rude and stormy seas, 
I onward press to you." 

Nothing can exceed the beauty and sublimity of 
the description given of the residence of the re- 
deemed Church. "And he showed me a pure 
river of water," Rev. xxii. 1-5. 

The happiness which those who are redeemed 
will hereafter experience, will probably far exceed 
that which by sin they had forfeited. They will 
be brought into a nearer relation to God, and enjoy 
with him far more intimate communion. They 
will be favored with richer manifestations of his 
glory, and praise him in more rapturous strains of 



46 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



devotion. The remembrance of what they once 
were, and the contemplation of that amazing grace 
to which they owe all their deliverance, will call 
forth from their bursting hearts notes of praise, 
which, "like the sound of many waters/ 5 shall 
echo through heaven s eternal domains for ever 
and ever. 

Paradise regained, shall no more be lost. 'The 
happiness of the redeemed will not only be com- 
plete, but permanent. No tempter will ever be 
permitted to intrude into their blissful abode ; no 
snares will ever be laid for their ruin. The same 
grace that preserved them on earth will preserve 
them forever in heaven. " I will give unto them," 
says Jesus, " eternal life." 

Thus, where sin hath abounded, grace much 
more abounds. " Not as the offence so also is the 
free gift" Christ came not only that we might 
have life, but that we might have it "more abun- 
dantly" 

" In him the tribes of Adam boast, 
More blessings than their father lost." 

REMARKS. 

1. What a glorious work is the work of human 
redemption ! The political redemption of a nation 
from despotism or anarchy, is regarded as an im- 
portant achievement ; but it can bear no kind of 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



47 



comparison with the redemption of Christ. The 
one delivers from temporal evils, the other from 
eternal; the one contemplates man in his connec- 
tion with the present world, the other in his con- 
nection with the future. The redemption of even 
a single soul is an event of unspeakable moment ; 
what then must be the redemption of millions ! 
How deep the misery from which they are res- 
cued ! how exalted the happiness to which they 
are elevated ! It was a glorious display of divine 
wisdom, power, and goodness, to create man, but 
how much richer the display to renew and save 
him ! 

In accomplishing the work of creation God had 
only to issue the mandate, and his order was 
obeyed. " He spake, and it was done ; he com- 
manded, and it stood fast." u He said, Let there 
be light, and there was light." But in accom- 
plishing the work of redemption there was de- 
manded an infinite sacrifice. The eternal God 
himself must become incarnate. The glories of 
his nature must be veiled in human flesh— precious 
blood must be poured forth — death and hell must 
be utterly vanquished. 

How^ melancholy the state of man in his apos- 
tacy. The stately edifice which the great Archi- 
tect had reared, lies in utter ruins. All the ma- 
terial are there, but they are all out of place, and 



48 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



lie scattered in confusion on the ground. Out of 
this rubbish Jehovah now rears a structure even 
more magnificent than the former. That glorious 
structure is the Church, redeemed by a Saviour's 
blood, and renewed by his Spirit. He himself 
constitutes the foundation, and all his ransomed 
people the superstructure. The work, commenced 
some thousand years since, is gradually advancing, 
and when eventually the topstone is laid, what a 
revenue of praise will redound to him who has 
made all things new ! 

Or, to use another illustration. Let us suppose 
a watchmaker to hold in his hand a watch of most 
exquisite workmanship. All who behold it ex- 
press the highest admiration. Suddenly some 
malicious person, standing by, snatches it from his 
hand and dashes it to the ground. Its beauty is 
all defaced, and none of its parts any longer per- 
form their operations. The grief of the owner is 
inexpressible, and all the spectators lament that a 
work displaying such singular ability should have 
been thus ruthlessly demolished. u Stop," says 
the maker, " I will now show you my skill." 
Carefully he collects the parts together, and forms 
of them a watch of even superior mechanism than 
the former. 

Thus has God acted in reference to man. When 
he called our race into being, he beheld his work 



PARADISE REGAINED. 49 

with infinite complacency. Angels, too, beheld it, 
and they shouted for joy. Sad to tell, the spirit 
of darkness in one moment despoiled man of his 
primitive glory, and apparently defeated the pur- 
pose of Heaven. It grieved Grod that he had 
made man — so entire was the ruin into which by 
sin he had become buried. But behold now the 
unsearchable wisdom, the ineffable love of Jehovah. 
Out of chaos proceeds order, and out of darkness 
light. Stooping from the skies, he raises our fallen 
humanity, not simply to what it was before, but 
even to more distinguished honor and felicity. 
Well may the whole intelligent universe burst 
forth in rapturous praise over the wonderful 
achievement ! 

44 0 love divine ! immeasurable love ! 
Stooping from heaven to earth, from earth to hell, 
Without beginning, endless, boundless love ! 
Above all asking, giving far to those 
Who naught deserved, who naught deserved but death. 
Saving the vilest ! saving me ! 0 love 
Divine ! 0 Saviour God ! 0 Lamb once slain ! 
At thought of thee, thy love, thy flowing blood, 
All thoughts decay, all things remembered fade." 

2. Let me yet remark, — How eager should we all 
be to regain our lost paradise. 

The privilege is one that may now be enjoyed 
by every fallen son and daughter of Adam. By 
the one offering on the cross, an ample atonement 

5 



50 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



lias been made for the sins of the world. No dif- 
ficulty, consequently, exists in the way of your 
salvation, but what may exist in yourself. The 
gate of Paradise, once closed, is now thrown wide 
open. No flaming seraph guards its entrance. 
The tree of life is accessible to all, and on the 
banks of the river, flowing from the throne of God, 
you may all recline, with golden harps celebrating 
the triumphs of redeeming mercy. Who, then, 
can refuse the offer ? Who can be unwilling to be 
saved, when salvation has been procured at such 
an infinite price, and is offered on such reasonable 
conditions ? Who can be content to remain under 
the yoke of sin, when he may rejoice in "the 
glorious liberty of the Son of God ?" Who can 
prefer death to life, misery to happiness, hell to 
heaven ? Oh, who, when he gathers up his feet 
on a bed of death, and yields up his spirit into the 
hands of God, would not have the Saviour address 
to him the same words of consolation that he ad- 
dressed to the penitent malefactor, " To-day shalt 
thou be with me in Paradise V If there is salva- 
tion for a poor sinner, ruined and helpless, let me 
have it on any terms. By the grace of God it 
shall be mine, — 

"My soul obeys the Almighty call, 
And runs to this relief/' 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



51 



" Turn ye to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope." 
Ask not, u How came I to be plunged into sin and 
misery?" Rather ask, how you may be saved 
from them. Why perplex yourself about the 
origin of your disease, when you have within your 
reach an unfailing remedy ? " How came I by my 
wicked heart ?" said a caviller once to Dr. Nettle- 
ton. u That," he replied, " is a question which 
does not concern you so much "as another, namely, 
how you should get rid of it. You have a wicked 
heart, which renders you entirely unfit for the 
kingdom of God ; and you must have a new heart, 
or you cannot be saved ; and the question which 
now most deeply concerns you is, how you shall 
obtain it V As the man manifested no disposition 
to hear anything on that subject, but still pressed 
the question, how he came by his wicked heart, 
Dr. Nettleton told him that his condition resem- 
bled that of a man who is drowning, while his 
friends are attempting to save his life. As he 
rises to the surface of the water, he exclaims, 
" How came I here ?" " That question does not 
concern you now; take hold of this rope." " But 
how came I here ?" he asks again. " I shall not 
stop to answer that question now," replies his 
friend. " Then I'll drown," says the infatuated 
man, and spurning all proffered . aid, sinks to the 
bottom. 



52 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



My dear hearer, the first question with you 
should be, not " How came I to be a sinner ?" but 
" How shall I get rid of sin ?" You know that 
you are a fallen being ; you know that there is 
redemption in Christ, — lay hold, then, on the hope 
set before you with all the eagerness with which 
a drowning man seizes the rope thrown out for his 
rescue. 



SERMON III. 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 
Which things the Angels desire to look into. — 1 Peter i. 12. 

The Scriptures have not only assured us of the 
existence of such an order of beings as Angels, 
but have also instructed us respecting their nature, 
their character, and their employments. While 
they are exhibited to us as creatures of exalted 
intelligence, and of unspotted purity, they are also 
distinguished for the most wonderful activity, and 
the most noble services. They are said to " stand 
in the presence of God," and minister to him in 
his Holy Temple. They " excel in strength, keep- 
ing his commandments, hearkening to the voice of 
his word." It is their delightful service to study 
the divine perfections, particularly as they are 
displayed in the plan of human redemption, and 
the dispensations of grace towards the children of 
men. High as is their station, their attention is 
drawn with adoring wonder to our earth, as the 
grand theatre upon which is exhibited scenes of 
unexampled interest and glory. 

5* 



54 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



The things referred to in the text, are those of 
which the Apostle had just been speaking — -the 
things which he had represented the prophets as 
so earnestly desirous to understand — the great 
truths respecting the sufferings of Christ, and the 
glory which should follow — the mystery of a Sa- 
viour's incarnation and death — the plan of redemp- 
tion through the blood of the cross — the effect of 
the Gospel in the restoration of fallen men to holi- 
ness and heaven. 

The word here rendered to look (*apaxi4<n) ? we 
find elsewhere rendered, stooping dozvn, or stooped 
down. Luke xxiv. 12; John xx. 5-11. Thus it 
is recorded of Peter and Mary, that when they 
came to the sepulchre, they stooped dotvn, and 
looked in, hoping there to find their Lord. The 
phrase, as used in the text, is supposed by some 
to have allusion to the cherubim over the mercy- 
seat, who appeared as if looking down with intense 
interest upon the ark, eager to ascertain what it 
contained. The evident idea of the Apostle is, 
that the great facts and truths of Christianity con- 
stitute a theme upon which angels dwell with the 
most fixed attention, with the most ardent desire, 
and with adoring wonder and delight. 

Whatever may be the powers and attainments 
of angels, they certainly cannot be omniscient. 
Much as they may know, they may still know 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



55 



more. The divine character, plans, and purposes, 
are continually unfolding to their view with in- 
creased clearness. The knowledge which they 
acquire, is, doubtless, acquired in the exercise of 
those faculties with which God has endowed them. 
They become acquainted with truth by investiga- 
tion;. and it constitutes no small part of their 
noble employment to contemplate the displays of 
the divine perfections in the immensity, the va- 
riety, and the grandeur of the divine operations. 
That part of the universe where we dwell, our 
text teaches us, has for them peculiar attractions. 
And what is there on earth that excites such 
amazing interest ? Is it our canals, our railroads, 
our telegraphs, our architecture, our works of taste, 
or our books of science? Is it the loftiness of 
our mountains, the majesty of our rivers, the fra- 
grance of our flowers, or the beauty of our land- 
scapes ? No, it is the Gross — the despised Cross 
- — the scene of a Saviour's sorrows and humilia- 
tion—redemption through the atoning sacrifice of 
Calvary. 

And what is there here that so absorbs their 
attention, and calls forth such emotions of holy 
admiration and wonder ? The grand cause of their 
profound research in the scheme of human redemp- 
tion is, no doubt, to be found in the rich display 
ivhich it affords of the divine perfections. 



56 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



It is the delight of those exalted intelligences 
to behold the various manifestations which God 
has made of his glory, and it is principally on this 
account that they contemplate with such profound 
adoration the great scheme for recovering man to 
the divine imagfe and favor. 

L In this scheme God exhibits himself to them in 
an aspect entirely nezv. Previously to the revela- 
tion of this design, there were four aspects in which 
he was presented to their view. They contem- 
plated him as the great Creator of all things ; and 
as they looked upon the various objects which his 
mighty hand had formed, those "morning stars 
sang together, and the sons of God shouted for 
joy." Next, they contemplated him as the hind 
preserver and upholder of the Universe, sustaining in 
existence the countless number of beings he had 
produced, and sending forth in every direction, the 
streams of his overflowing beneficence. They 
cried one to another, " Holy, holy, holy, is the 
Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of his 
glory ! 5 ' 

God exhibited himself to them also as a moral 
Governor, placing all created intelligences under 
law, and demanding of them their cordial homage 
and obedience. And, finally, he was made known 
to them as the avenger of sin ; for they had seen 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



57 



those who were once companions with them in the 
seats of bliss, hurled, in consequence of rebellion, 
from their exalted station, and doomed to eternal 
remorse and despair. 

But in the redemption of sinners, God presented 
himself in a character different from any in which 
he had "been known before. Here he was made 
known, not merely as Creator, Preserver, Sove- 
reign and Judge, but as a Saviour. Here they 
behold not merely the display of wisdom, power, 
goodness and justice, but of certain attributes of the 
divine nature, which exhibit it to them in a light 
still more amiable and attractive. Here God has 
proclaimed his mercy. This, indeed, is only a mo- 
dification of his goodness ; and yet it is a form or 
manifestation of goodness altogether peculiar. It 
contemplates man not as a creature, but as a sin- 
ner. It is favor extended to the miserable and 
ill-deserving. Angels had before witnessed the 
benevolent regard of God towards the work of his 
hands, but now they see it displayed even towards 
rebels against his throne. The objects of his holy 
displeasure become the objects of his most tender 
solicitude, and those whom he might justly have 
spurned from his presence, are received to his 
special friendship. 

In the redemption of sinners, they are furnished 
with evidence, not only of the tenderness of the 



58 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



divine compassion, but also of the riches of divine 
forbearance. While they behold the eternal sove- 
reign moved with sympathy, they behold him, at 
the same time, holding back the thunders of his 
insulted throne. When a part of their own num- 
ber had fallen, transgression was immediately fol- 
lowed by merited punishment ; and such, no doubt, 
they supposed would also be the consequence of 
human apostacy ; but, lo ! the sentence instead of 
being executed, is delayed. Man, instead of sink- 
ing at once to the regions of darkness, is permitted 
to retain his abode on earth : and though visited 
with evident tokens of divine displeasure, he still 
enjoys a season of gracious reprieve. How long, 
too, does God wait upon the rejectors of his mercy. 
Year after year that mercy is pressed upon the 
sinner. All the day long the arms of divine com- 
passion stand open to embrace him. One call suc- 
ceeds another, until at length the obdurate heart 
is brought to relent, or the sinner, having filled up 
the measure of his iniquity, is abandoned to utter 
ruin and despair. How must angels be astonished 
at such patience ! When they look at sin in the 
light of God's countenance, it would seem to them 
as if it must at once be visited with deserved ven- 
geance. How can infinite purity regard with a 
moment's forbearance, crimes of such fearful mag- 
nitude ? How can infinite majesty endure such 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



59 



aggravated provocations? Why does not Omni- 
potence at once crush the arm that is raised in 
guilty rebellion? Why is not that Sabbath- 
breaker, that profane swearer, cut off in the midst 
of his impiety ? The answer of Jehovah himself 
is, " I will not execute the fierceness of mine an- 
ger ; I will not return to destroy Ephraim ; for I 
am God, and not man." 

"Almighty goodness cries, ' Forbear/ 
And straight the thunder stays/' 

How amazingly, too, is the condescension which 
angels see displayed towards man. How infinitely 
low has God stooped to raise us from our ruinous 
apostacy. Deity becomes united with humanity. 
The eternal sovereign appears to our revolted pro- 
vince clothed in our nature, beseeching us with 
tears to return to our allegiance, and dies in tor- 
ture to open the way for our reconciliation. God 
manifested in the flesh, is one of the great myste- 
ries of godliness. What a spectacle to admiring 
angels ! The Lord of glory hanging upon a cross ! 
He, who' at his word, could have consigned our 
entire race to destruction, placing himself in the 
hands of his foes, and patiently enduring the most 
shameful indignities ! 

" Did ever pity stoop so low, 

Dressed in divinity and blood ! 
Was ever rebel courted so, 

In groans of an expiring God!" 



60 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



Here, too, angels behold the most astonishing 
self-denial. Salvation is purchased at infinite ex- 
pense. " God so loved the world, that he gave 
his only-begotten Son." The choicest gift of heaven 
is surrendered up for man. Oh, how much did it 
cost to purchase our ransom ! How precious the 
blood that was shed to procure it! He u who was 
rich, for our sakes became poor, that we, through 
his poverty, might be made rich." He who 
" thought it not robbery to be equal with God, 
made himself of no reputation, took upon him the 
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness 
of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he 
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, 
even the death of the cross." 

II. While the scheme of redemption has un- 
folded to the view of angels certain attributes of 
God, of which they had before no manifestation, 
it has also exhibited those, tvith which they were ah 
ready acquainted, in a light increasingly clear and 
impressive. 

They knew that God was benevolent. They had 
rejoiced in the displays of his benevolence, not 
only in giving existence to the Universe, but also 
in the paternal care which he had shown in its 
preservation, and the continued supply he had 
afforded to all who waited before him. That he 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



61 



delighted in the happiness of his creatures, they 
could not for a moment question; but when they 
beheld him looking upon our fallen race with such 
commiseration, as to obtain for them redemption 
at the stupendous sacrifice of his own Son, how 
did their hearts glow with transport, and with 
what thrilling notes did they break forth in the 
anthem, " Glory to God in the highest, on earth 
peace, and good-will to men." Then they expe- 
rienced joys unknown before, and a song was put 
into their mouth, which had never been heard even 
amid the hallelujahs of the skies. 

They knew, too, that God was holy. In his 
nature they could discover no stain. He had 
formed them pure and happy. He had placed 
them under a law requiring perfect obedience, and 
they well understood that sin must be infinitely 
abhorrent in his sight ; but now, if possible, it is 
presented to them as increasingly odious. Not 
only do they hear Jehovah expressing his utter 
disapprobation of man's transgression, but they be- 
hold an expedient devised for his recovery, by 
which the purity of the divine character shines 
forth with such ineffable splendor, as may well ex- 
cite in the minds of his creatures the highest vene- 
ration and awe. 

They had already witnessed a most impressive 
display of divine justice. They had seen their 
6 



62 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



fallen brethren exiled from heaven, and shut up 
under chains of eternal darkness. They had seen 
our earth, exhibiting fearful signs that all was lost, 
" the whole creation groaning and travailing in 
pain" under the displeasure of the Almighty, 
still they might not have known that justice was 
strictly inexorable. They might have supposed 
that there were cases in which, as a sovereign, God 
might dispense w r ith the rigid exactions of his vio- 
lated law, and restore to his favor those who earn- 
estly sued for his mercy. But when they see the 
redemption of our race accomplished by the death 
of our surety, the immaculate Son of God suffering 
in the room of sinners ; when they hear the dread 
commission go forth, " Awake, 0 ! sword, against 
my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow 
when they behold the bleeding victim expiring in 
agony on the tree, in order that God might be just, 
and yet justify the guilty, they feel that the 
throne of heaven is established on principles as im- 
mutable as the sovereign who occupies it, and that 
the rights and honor of that throne must be main- 
tained inviolable and unsullied. 

They had contemplated Jehovah as a being pos- 
sessed of infinite tvisdom. They had gazed with 
astonishment upon the fabric of the universe, and 
admired the adaptation of all its parts to the accom- 
plishment of the great purposes of its divine archi- 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



63 



tect ; but now is presented to their view such depths 
of divine wisdom, that though for centuries it has 
engaged their most profound research, its wonders 
still remain unexplored and uncomprehended. 

They had already adored the displays of divine 
power. At the command of God, they had seen 
worlds instantly springing into existence, and the 
arm of rebels, raised against his throne, crushed 
and paralyzed, but in the work of redemption they 
witnessed u the exceeding greatness of His power," 
in creating the soul anew, rescuing it from the 
hands of the enemy, preserving it unharmed amid 
every exposure, and presenting it at last before 
the throne in all its original purity and felicity, 

" 'Twas great to speak a world from naught, 
'Tis greater to redeem." 

III. The work of redemption exhibits also the 
harmony of the divine perfections. None but the in- 
finite mind could have devised a scheme by which 
sinners might be saved, and yet the glory of the 
divine nature remain untarnished. The exercise 
of one perfection, it would seem, must clash with 
another. How can God be just, and yet, at the 
same time, merciful ? How can he be true, and yet 
remit the threatened penalty ? How can he be holy, 
and yet receive into favor those upon whom he 
could not but look with the deepest abhorrence ? 



64 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



Angels were, no doubt, sensible of these difficul- 
ties. They had probably looked upon the condi- 
tion of our race as hopeless. They could discover 
no method by which God could be honored, and 
yet man redeemed. Silence was in heaven, but 
soon the announcement is made that infinite wis- 
dom has formed a plan for our recovery, a plan by 
which mercy is to prevail, and yet justice is to be 
honored, the penalty of the law is to be remitted, 
and yet its sacred authority maintained. Oh ! 
what glories cluster around the cross ! One attri- 
bute of Jehovah serves to illustrate and add new 
beauty to another. Justice honors mercy, and 
mercy, in return, honors justice. Instead of being 
displayed to each other's disparagement, they act in 
perfect harmony ; and as they mingle their beams, 
they send forth such a flood of glory as utterly 
overwhelms the mind of the most exalted seraph, 
and causes the domains of heaven to ring with un- 
ceasing anthems of wonder and praise. 

REMARKS. 

1. This subject may tend to throw light upon the 
nature of heavens happiness. It is not a happiness 
that flows from indolence, but from the highest ac- 
tivity. The powers of angels are exerted to their 
utmost in studying the divine perfections, while 
their bursting songs of praise continually give ex- 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



65 



pression to their deep emotions of wonder, grati- 
tude, and joy. Their happiness, however pure and 
elevated, is still progressive. The more they learn 
of God, the more ardent are their devotions, and 
the more exalted their felicity. Ever since they 
have had a being, they have, no doubt, been ad- 
vancing in their moral character and condition ; and 
to this improvement there can be no pause. The 
ages of eternity may yet make to them disclosures 
of which, at present, they have no conception, call- 
ing forth new and still more rapturous songs of re- 
joicing and praise. What, in this respect, is true 
of angels, is also true of the redeemed. There is 
but one being absolutely perfect. All creatures, 
whatever may be their present attainments, are still 
capable of progression. The Lamb is said to lead 
his people to " living fountains of waters," opening 
to them continually new sources of knowledge, 
holiness, and enjoyment. In the study of the di- 
vine character and works, there will be enough to 
employ the powers of the mind forever. When 
millions of ages have fled, the inhabitants of heaven 
may be but on the threshhold of those magnificent 
displays of divine wisdom, power, and benevolence, 
which are to be progressively unfolded to their 
astonished and enraptured vision. 

2. We may learn from this subject that the 
scheme of redemption merits the profound investiga- 

6* 



66 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



Hon of the most exalted intellects. Angels are " the 
flower of creation ; they are always spoken of in 
scripture as proverbial for their knowledge ; they 
are the first beings in the universe ; and are as 
much above men in their powers as the heavens 
are higher than the earth." And if there are 
things in the gospel into which even they desire to 
look, things which excite their astonishment and 
wonder, things the study of which adds to their 
knowledge and felicity, then, surely, the theme is 
one worthy the attention of the highest intellect on 
earth. There is no mind, however exalted, that 
will not be improved by this study, no heart that 
will not be made better, no state of enjoyment that 
will not be advanced. So absorbed was the great 
apostle in this stupendous theme, that he counted 
all things but loss for the excellency of the know- 
ledge of Christ. His highest ambition was to 
" know him and the power of his resurrection, and 
the fellowship of his sufferings/' Let no man, 
then, regard this study as unworthy of his atten- 
tion. Of all sciences, the science of human re- 
demption is the most grand and interesting. Com- 
pared with the knowledge of salvation, all other 
attainments are but trifles. 

3. It may also be inferred from this subject, 
tha t the existence of genuine piety is altvays connected 
with a deep interest in divine truth. The piety of 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



67 



angels is founded in truth. Their love to God is 
produced by a knowledge of his character; and 
the more they know of him, the more ardent and 
devoted is their affection. It is the same with the 
piety of God's redeemed people. They are born 
again by the u incorruptible seed of the word of 
God" — they are " sanctified by the truth." They 
grow in grace only when they grow in the know- 
ledge of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
The truths of the Gospel must therefore be pecu- 
liarly precious to them. " Oh, how I love thy 
holy law," said the Psalmist ; " it is my medita- 
tion all the day." " How sweet are thy words to 
my taste ; they are sweeter than honey to my 
mouth." It is characteristic of the wicked that 
they forget God. They are described as saying, 
" Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of 
thy ways." " God is not in all their thoughts." 
But what says the believer ? " Our desire is to 
thee, and the remembrance of thy name." " Show 
me, 0 God, thy glory." 

4. We remark further, — What an interesting 
part of the universe is that in which we noiv dwell. 
In each of the countless worlds which God has 
called into being, there may be some peculiar man- 
ifestation of his glory. The grand attraction on 
our globe is the Cross. It is to this that angels 



68 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



look for a display of the divine perfections no 
where else to be seen. Every step in the redemp- 
tion of sinners is to them entirely new. The gift 
of Jesus Christ — -the mystery of his incarnation — 
his miracles of power and grace — his unutterable 
agony — his ignominious death — his triumphant 
resurrection and ascension — the outpouring of his 
Spirit — the progress of his Gospel — the renovation 
of the heart-— the conflicts of the believer — the 
supports which religion administers to him in the 
hour of affliction, of sickness, and death — his pas- 
sage to glory — his slumber in the tomb — his joy- 
ful resurrection at the last day, and his complete 
redemption from all the evils of the apostacy, pre- 
sent to those adoring spirits scenes, not only new, 
but invested with the highest interest and wonder. 
The work of redemption which is going forward in 
our world, gives to this globe an importance which 
does not belong to any other portion of God's uni- 
verse. There is no other world, so far as we know, 
on which such scenes are transacted as on this ; 
and there is no world whose inhabitants should be 
more solemn and devout. Events are continually 
transpiring before us, calculated to awaken in us 
unutterable emotions. Immortal beings are form- 
ing their character for eternity. Some are thank- 
fully accepting the provision of grace for their 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



69 



redemption; others treating it with neglect and 
scorn. Some are sealing their destiny for heaven; 
others for hell. Each of us is taking a part in the 
solemn transactions which are here going forward. 
Not one of us can remain indifferent or unaffected. 
The preaching of the cross will either prove to us 
" the power of God unto salvation/' or a " stone of 
stumbling, and a rock of offence ;" either the grand 
influence to draw us to God and heaven, or the 
occasion of plunging us into lower depths of misery 
and ruin. 

5. And this leads me to remark, finally, — If 
the scheme of redemption engages the profound inves- 
tigation of angels, then how deeply interesting should 
it he to men ! Upon this scheme is suspended our 
all. Take away the cross, and you remove the 
last, the only hope of a sinking world. The inte- 
rest which angels feel in this subject arises, chiefly, 
from their desire to behold the manifestations of 
divine glory, or the benevolent regard they cherish 
for the welfare of man ; but the interest which we 
have in this matter is more direct and serious. 
The blood of atonement was shed for us — the offer 
of salvation is made to us— the plan of redemption 
is one that contemplates us. How sacred, then, 
are the obligations we are under to a redeeming 
Saviour. What warm returns of gratitude ought 
we to render to him for his unmerited love. How 



70 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



attentively should we study that system of grace 
upon which alone rests our hope of reconciliation 
and pardon • and how eager should we be at once 
to secure an interest in the precious blessings pur- 
chased by the blood of the cross, and pressed upon 
us with such melting importunity. Indifference 
to the Gospel betrays a state of moral blindness 
and perverseness which knows no parallel; and 
yet this indifference, so far from being a rare thing, 
is almost universal. What crowds may be seen, 
in every direction, rushing by the cross, as though 
it were utterly unworthy of a moment's attention. 
How difficult is it to interest men in the great 
truths of the Gospel. How few, like angels, may 
be found who are looking into the mysteries of 
redeeming mercy. Talk to men about trade — talk 
to them about politics — talk to them about the 
wonders of nature, and you may possibly secure 
their attention; but no sooner do you speak to 
them about redemption, than they appear eager to 
change the theme, — ashamed even to utter a name 
which should be their highest glory and joy. 

If angels can be astonished at anything, they 
must be astonished at this. To see men busy 
about everything rather than the great interest of 
salvation, is, indeed, the wonder of wonders. Oh, 
how deeply depraved must be that heart which 
can remain unmoved amid the thrilling scenes of 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 71 

the cross— which can treat with neglect a subject 
that engrosses the attention, and calls forth the 
songs of the loftiest intelligences of creation. How 
unlike are those who thus treat the great system 
of redemption to the pure and benevolent spirits 
of heaven. How unfit to be their companions, 
and how utterly disqualified to unite with them in 
their eternal anthem of praise to the once bleed- 
ing, but now exalted Lamb. If redemption be 
not your joy on earth, certain it is that it can 
never be your song in heaven. And are you, my 
dear hearer, prepared to forfeit all interest in the 
redemption of the Gospel ? Shall Heaven again 
make to you the tender of salvation, and shall that 
salvation be neglected ? What a scene for angels 
to witness ! Here stands the unworthy ambassa- 
dor of Jesus, beseeching you, in his stead, to be- 
come reconciled to God, and proclaiming to you a 
free and full pardon. " Surely,'' every angel may 
well say, " such an offer cannot be slighted. Only 
let it be made known to those perishing sinners 
that God is waiting to be gracious, and every heart 
must instantly be drawn and melted by such kind- 
ness." But no, no, the perverseness of the human 
heart is not so easily overcome. Men may be re- 
deemed, but they will not. The groans of a dying 
Saviour awaken no emotion ; and from the light of 
the cross, the light of the sanctuary, the light of 



72 



ANGELIC RESEARCH. 



the sacred page, they urge their way downward to 
the darkness of eternal despair. Oh, be not so 
unwise, so rash, so infatuated. Let angels to-day 
witness one more evidence of the power of the 
Gospel, and Jesus rejoice in one more trophy of 
his all-conquering grace. 



SERMON IV. 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

Grocl saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that 
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con- 
tinually. — Gen. vi. 5. 

To know our disease is often one half the cure. 
" The whole need not a physician, but they that 
are sick." The general neglect of salvation may 
be attributed to the want of a proper conviction of 
its importance. No man will ever embrace Christ 
as a Saviour until he feels his need of him. Be- 
fore he will seek to be saved, he must feel himself 
to be lost. The provisions of divine mercy are 
made only for the guilty and the perishing. 

Men, in general, have no sense of the plague of 
their hearts. They have no conception either of 
the degree or the strength of their depravity. 
They think that this whole matter has been exag- 
gerated. Ignorant of the purity of the divine 
character and law, they remain most profoundly 
ignorant of themselves. To be told that with all 
their seeming virtues, their fair exterior, they are 
still destitute of all moral goodness, and exposed 

7 



74 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



to the divine displeasure, they regard as both un- 
just and unkind. Were this representation made 
of the more depraved portion of the race, its truth 
might, perhaps, be admitted; but they see not 
how it can be applied to them, so upright, so cha- 
ritable, so amiable. 

Now, we have no disposition to overdraw the 
picture of human depravity. We wish to portray 
it just as it is portrayed in the word of God. To 
this we make our appeal. The great question to 
be decided is, In what light is the character of 
man regarded by his Maker ? To this question 
our text furnishes us with an answer at once ex- 
plicit and forcible. " God saw that the wickedness 
of man was great in the earth/' &c. 

I. We may notice here, in the first place, the 
seat or source of human depravity — it is the heart 
— the prevailing affections, disposition, desires, 
and purposes of the soul. The sinfulness of man's 
conduct will hardly be contested, while the source 
from which it springs is commonly overlooked. 
Even the most aggravated crimes are often attri- 
buted more to weakness and inadvertence — to the 
violence of temptation, the force of habit, or the 
influence of example, than to any inherent corrup- 
tion. Many who will readily acknowledge the 
sinfulness or irregularity of their lives, still flatter 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



75 



themselves with the supposed goodness of their 
hearts. They maintain that they mean no harin, 
and that what are regarded as crimes are, after all, 
mere misfortunes or foibles. 

This is certainly a most serious mistake. De- 
pravity consists not in mere external actions, but 
in the intention of the mind. Our external con- 
duct is holy or sinful no farther than it is con- 
nected with the heart — no more than are the 
movements of a watch, the revolution of the 
planets, the beating of the pulse, or the operations 
of any other unintelligent matter. If a man strike 
another and kill him, the crime consists not simply 
in the motion of the arm, but in the intention of 
the mind. If the act has no connection with the 
mind, or is entirely involuntary, it is divested of 
all moral character. There may be aggravated 
wickedness within, where it has never been deve- 
loped in action, and where it may be covered over 
with deeds of apparent goodness. The Pharisees, 
though they made clean the outside of the cup 
and the platter, were full of all uncleanness. God 
takes cognizance of the inward man. He search- 
eth the heart, and trieth the reins of the children 
of men. The law demands not mere external 
obedience, but truth and purity within. 

Now, we maintain that man is not only a sinner 
in conduct, but in heart. Not merely the streams 



76 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



are corrupt, but the fountain also ; not merely the 
fruit, but the tree — root, trunk, and branches. 
The disease is not merely external ; it lies deeply 
seated within, affecting the very vitals. 

On this point the Scriptures are explicit. " Out 
of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adul- 
teries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphe- 
mies." " The heart is deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked." " The heart of the sons 
of men is full of evil." 

Hence the necessity of an internal renovation. 
As our depravity is radical, so must our change be 
radical. It will not do merely to lop off the 
branches ; we must strike at the very root. It 
will not do to cleanse the stream ; we must purify 
the fountain. The remedy must reach to the very 
seat of the disease. u Wash thine heart from 
wickedness ; how long shall vain thoughts lodge 
within thee ?" " Cleanse your hands ye sinners, 
and purify your hearts ye double-minded." " Make 
you a new heart and a new spirit." " Create in 
me, 0 Grocl, a clean heart, and renew within me a 
right spirit," 

II. Another important question bearing on this 
subject, relates to the degree or extent of human 
depravity. 

The fact that man is a sinner is generally ad- 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



77 



mittecL The evidences of this fact are too pal- 
pable to be gainsayed. There is a witness in 
every human bosom testifying that " we have all 
sinned and come short of the glory of God." 

Readily, however, as men may admit their 
moral delinquencies, they have commonly but 
little idea of the extent of their sinfulness. If they 
confess that they do many things that are wrong, 
they still maintain that they do others which are 
right. They hope that their good deeds far over- 
balance their evil ones, and constitute for them a 
kind of satisfaction or atonement. 

It is therefore an important question — To tvhat 
degree is man deleaved? Is his depravity partial 
or is it total ? Fallen as he is, does he still pos- 
sess some remains of moral goodness, or is he 
utterly void of true holiness ? 

If we rest the decision of this question on the 
testimony of the Scriptures, the evidence here is 
clear and abundant. They represent man as 
plunged into the deepest apostacy, the moral image 
of God as entirely effaced, and his moral nature in 
utter ruins. They represent him as destitute of 
all right affections towards God, and as under the 
complete dominion of selfishness. They not only 
condemn all his actions as sinful, but they exhibit 
his whole nature as corrupt, " alienated from the 
life of God, through the ignorance that is in them." 

7* 



78 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



The language of the text is peculiarly forcible. 
" God saw that the wickedness" &c. The heart is 
evil, the imagination of the thoughts of the heart is 
evil, only evil, and that not merely occasionally, 
but continually r , or without any interruption. 

What a fearful picture of human depravity ! 
How could the doctrine of man's entire sinfulness 
be expressed in terms of greater clearness and 
strength ? 

With the testimony of the text accords the 
general testimony of the sacred page. u The 
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately 
wicked." " That which is born of the flesh is 
flesh." " The carnal mind is enmity against God, 
and is not subject to the law of God, neither in- 
deed can be." " You hath he quickened, who 
were dead in trespasses and sins." 

But is this doctrine, so fully taught in the word 
of God, confirmed by facts ? Is it in accordance 
with our actual experience and observation ? Is 
it reasonable ? Does it commend itself to the 
human understanding and conscience ? Are there 
not many things connected with the character and 
conduct of man, previous to his renewal by divine 
grace, that militate against it? Do we not often 
discover in him a high sense of justice, generosity, 
kindness, gratitude, and other amiable qualities ? 
Does he not also manifest a high appreciation of 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



79 



the excellency of true religion, a marked respect 
for its institutions, and even sentiments of a highly 
devotional character ? Does he not often speak 
of God with reverence, and express hrs admiration 
of the divine perfections and works ? And how 
can all this be reconciled with the idea that he is 
totally depraved ? With all these apparent virtues 
the doctrine which we are maintaining is entirely 
consistent. When we speak of man as totally de- 
praved, we mean simply that he is destitute of all 
holiness. We do not divest him of the essential 
faculties of human nature ; we do not deprive him 
of conscience or a moral sense ; we do not repre- 
sent him as void of natural affection ; we do not 
even assert that he is as bad as he can be ; for 
depravity, like holiness, admits of continual pro- 
gression : but we maintain that he has no con- 
formity to God's law, that he renders no such 
obedience as that law demands. 

Now, it is evident, that all the amiable traits to 
which we have referred, may exist where there is 
no regard to the claims of that law whatever; 
where there is even open and decided hostility to 
its authority. Nothing is more common than for 
men to manifest a high respect for the rights of 
each other, while they are utterly indifferent to 
the rights of God — nothing more common than for 
them even to manifest a sentimentalism, bearing a 



80 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



strong resemblance to the exercises of true piety, 
while the heart remains fixed in its opposition to 
God and holiness. Many of the most virtuous 
and amiable persons, are the most bitter enemies 
to the Cross of Christ. Many a man who has 
spoken in the most exalted terms of the majesty, 
wisdom and goodness of God, has yet shown him- 
self to be in a state of entire alienation from his 
holy character and law. It is related of a lecturer 
on philosophy, that in discoursing on the divine 
attributes, as displayed in the immensity of crea- 
tion, he, with the audience, was wrought up into a 
rapture of apparent devotion, and yet in less than 
an hour's time, after leaving the room, he was 
heard to curse and swear, as was his usual manner 
of conversation. 

Napoleon Bonaparte once remarked, that while 
walking alone one evening, the sound of a church 
bell fell upon his ear. Finding him in a genial mood, 
it seems to have awakened in his breast the most 
touching recollections of his childhood, and filled 
his soul with devotional feeling. u I was pro- 
foundly affected," says he, u such is the power of 
early habit and associations ; and I considered that 
if such was the case with me, what must not be 
the effect of such recollections upon the more sim- 
ple and credulous vulgar. Let your philosophers 
answer that. The people must have a religion." 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



81 



Nothing, then, that may attach itself to the 
character of an unregenerate man, is inconsistent 
with the fact of his entire estrangement from Grocl. 
Not a single desire of his heart; not a single pur- 
pose of his mind ; not a single action of his life, 
when closely analyzed, will be found to hear any 
conformity to the requisitions of the divine law. 
With all his external adornments; with all his 
sweetness and amiability of temper ; with all his 
deeds of charity and devotion, his supreme affec- 
tions are placed, not on God, but on self. 

The change, therefore, which he must undergo 
to fit him for heaven, must not only be radical, 
but thorough and entire. If man is not depraved, 
then, of course, he needs no spiritual renovation. 
If his depravity is merely external, then he needs 
only an external reformation. If his sinfulness 
be only partial, then he needs only a partial change ; 
but if, as has been shown, the corruption reaches 
the heart, and affects his whole moral nature, then 
nothing short of a spiritual regeneration, a new 
creation, can ever restore him to holiness and hap- 
piness. "Marvel not," said Jesus, "that I said 
unto thee, ye must be born again." The change 
is as reasonable as it is important. u That which 
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born 
of the spirit is spirit." As by the first birth man 
is wholly sinful, so it is only by a second birth 
that he can become the subject of true holiness. 



82 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



III. Our text exhibits also the universality of 
human depravity. 

Admitting that what has been affirmed of the 
sinfulness of man is true of some, is it true of all? 
If such was the character of the antediluvians ; if 
such is the character of the heathen, is it also the 
character of men in christian countries ? May 
not human nature, once so deteriorated, have un- 
dergone some improvement? May not the in- 
creased light which has been thrown upon the 
mind, the more powerful restraints which are ex- 
erted against sin, and the advanced state of so- 
ciety, have greatly modified the workings of human 
depravity, and elevated man to a moral dignity 
unknown in the ages of darkness and superstition? 

To this we reply : human nature is essentially 
the same in all ases, and in all countries. The de- 
pravity of the heart may be restrained, or, rather, 
be developed in new forms ; but in its great prin- 
ciples, its leading elements, it is always and every- 
where the same. "As in water face answereth to 
face, so the heart of man to man." 

Our text makes no exception. u God saw that 
the wickedness of man was great." The term is 
generic, including the entire race. It describes 
not simply antediluvian wickedness, but human 
wickedness in general. The character of man re- 
mained the same after the flood that it was before ; 
hence we find substantially the same record made 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



83 



in the eighth chapter of Genesis that is made in 
the sixth. " The imagination of man's heart is 
evil from his youth." The moral portrait here drawn 
by the pen of inspiration, is just as true a re- 
presentation of fallen humanity now as it was 
formerly. 

Many centuries after this, the inspired writers 
bore a similar testimony to the corruption of human 
nature. The heart of the sons of men/' says 
Solomon, "is full of evil." "Who," says Job, 
" can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? What 
is man that he should be clean ? and he which is 
born of a woman, that he should be righteous ?" 
u What, then," asks the Apostle, " are we better 
than they ?" Are the Jews with all their light 
and privileges, and external sanctity, any better 
than the Gentiles ? " No, in no wise ; for we have 
before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they 
are all under sin. As it is written ; there is none 
righteous, no not one." 

The Scriptures, indeed, speak of a class of per- 
sons whose character differs essentially from that 
of all others ; a class designated as holy, godly, 
righteous. This difference, however, is represented, 
not as the fruit of nature, but of grace. They 
are said to be " created anew in Christ Jesus unto 
good works ;" born, not of blood, nor of the will of 
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 



84 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



"For we ourselves also were sometime foolish, 
disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and 
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and 
hating one another. But after that the kindness 
and love of God, our Saviour, toward man ap- 
peared, not by works of righteousness which we 
have done, but according to his mercy he saved 
us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing 
of the Holy Ghost." 

Previous to regeneration, then, the hearts of all 
men are fashioned alike. They may differ in their 
conduct ; they may differ in their natural disposi- 
tions and temperaments ; they may differ in the 
degree of their guilt and sinfulness, but there is 
no more holiness in one heart than there is in an- 
other. 

You may be a man of unblemished life, and may 
never have debased yourself by those indulgences 
which degrade the character of others. You may 
be a kind husband, an affectionate father, a useful 
citizen, upright in your dealings, humane in your 
disposition, liberal in your charities, and yet, if 
you have never been born of the Spirit of God, 
your best deeds are radically defective, and your 
soul is dyed with a moral pollution that must ut- 
terly unfit you for all communion with infinite 
purity. 

You may be a lady of the highest refinement 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



85 



and accomplishments, a faithful wife, a devoted 
mother, an affectionate daughter and sister. Your 
temper may be the most amiable, your manners 
the most kind and courteous, and your whole de- 
meanor such as may commend you to the respect 
and admiration of all around you ; and yet, if you 
have never been renewed by divine grace, and 
come as an humble penitent to the feet of your 
Saviour, you are still an enemy to his cross, and 
burdened with guilt that must at last sink you 
down to the very depths of woe and despair. 

You may be a young man in whose mind the 
principles of virtue have been early instilled, and, 
like one of whom we read in the Gospel, you may 
be ready to say that you have kept all the com- 
mandments from your youth up, and yet, with all 
your regularity of conduct, you may have violated 
every precept of the divine law, cherished the 
spirit of rebellion against the throne of heaven, 
and possess a heart stained with aggravated guilt. 

We wish to do injustice to none. Most cor- 
dially do we give our fellow-men credit for all that 
they deserve ; and ascribe to them all that they 
properly possess ; but the virtues that attach them- 
selves to our fallen humanity are not holiness. 
The apostacy of man is just as entire as that of 
fallen angels. There is no more holiness in the 
one than there is in the other. 

8 



86 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



Let it then be distinctly understood, that the 
Bible, in preferring the charge of total corruption, 
prefers it against unrenewed men, without a soli- 
tary exception. And as all have sinned, all, conse- 
quently, need to be regenerated. The change is 
just as necessary in one case as in another — just 
as necessary for the Jew as for the Gentile, for 
men in Christian as in Pagan lands, for the moral 
as for the vicious, for the man of correct senti- 
ments, or orthodox creed, as for the infidel and 
errorist. The language of the Saviour is general. 
" Except a man be born again, he cannot see the 
kingdom of God." There is no exception to this 
rule ; and if any think they are too virtuous or 
too good to need such a change, it only affords us 
melancholy evidence how seriously they have mis- 
taken their character, and how insensible they are 
to their spiritual condition. 

IV. We notice now, in the last place, the truth 
of the doctrine before us. This is established not 
merely by the testimony of man, but by the testi- 
mony of God. " God" it is said, " saw that the 
wickedness of man was great." In the 14th 
Psalm, we read, " The Lord looked down from 
heaven upon the children of men, to see if there 
were any that did understand and seek God. 
They are all gone aside ; they are altogether be- 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



87 



come filthy ; there is none that doeth good, no not 
one. 

This puts the matter beyond all dispute. Were 
the humiliating view of human depravity which 
we have presented, the offspring of some misguided 
zealot — some gloomy misanthropist, it might admit 
of controversy ; but the mouth of the Lord hath 
spoken it, and who will gainsay ? The testimony 
should be regarded as decisive. There can be no 
mistake in that testimony. God sees as man can- 
not see. " Man looketh on the outward appear- 
ance ; but God looketh on the heart." His eye 
penetrates into the inmost recesses of the soul; 
he weighs the spirits of men, and tries all their 
actions by the unerring standard of truth and rec- 
titude. The result of his inspection is, that " there 
is none that doeth good, no not one." This is his 
sentence. He can have no possible motive to de- 
ceive us. He is the God of eternal truth. He 
knows what constitutes sin, and he knows, too, to 
what extent we have sinned. If we believe not, 
yet he abideth faithful. The great question to be 
decided is not, what estimate do we form of our 
character, but how is that character estimated by 
him who searches our hearts, and who is to be our 
final Judge. The verdict which he has brought in 
against us is, that we have " all sinned and come 
short of his glory ;" and it is in view of this fact, 



88 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



that he has provided for us a Saviour. Christ 
died for all, because all were dead. If man is not 
fallen, then he needs no redemption. The Scrip- 
tures reveal to us a common Saviour, because we 
are involved in a common ruin. 

The subject before us is one of immeasurable 
importance. I wish to impress upon the mind of 
each one of my unconverted hearers his exceeding 
sinfulness. We would not charge you wrongfully. 
We will take it for granted that you possess all 
the excellences that can attach themselves to our 
fallen nature ; still, as one appointed to watch for 
your souls, and who must ere long give account to 
God, you must permit me to tell you, that you 
rest under a mountain-weight of guilt, which, if 
not removed, must eventually crush you to inter- 
minable ruin. We bring against you no railing 
accusation. We ascribe to you no character which 
we did not once possess ourselves. We pass no 
sentence upon your state which we do not pass 
upon our own. By nature we were all the chil- 
dren of wrath, even as others — partakers of the 
same depravity, and exposed to the same condem- 
nation ; and if we have been made to differ from 
what we once were, the praise is due, not to our- 
selves, but to sovereign grace alone. " God who 
is rich in mercy, for his great love, wherewith he 
loved us, even when we w r ere dead in sins, hath 
quickened us together with Christ." 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



89 



u Dark— dark was the tempest without — 

Keen — keen was the torture within ; 
By the terrors of hell I was compassed about — 

I felt them already begin ; 
Despair was advancing to gnaw 

The spring of my spirit away — 
Each to my sight placed the curse of the law, 

And my sins in their dreadful array ; 
Fear shook me — astonishment sat on my eye, 

While conscience extorted the heart-rending sigh. 
When, lo ! in that moment of fear, 

Broke mildly, Hope's tremulous cry ; 
The accents of Mercy fell soft on my ear, 

And thus seemed the seraph to say : 
' Look — look to thy crucified Lord ! 

See where he lies bleeding for thee ! 
Hark ! Come, I will save thee ! Believe on his word ; 

Flee — flee to the Refuge — oh, flee V 
I heard, I obeyed — for his love drew me on — 
I clung to his cross — and my terrors were gone." 

Oh, that the same grace that has wrought such 
wonders in us, may now display its power in you! 
We desire that you may have the same sense of 
your sinfulness, only that you may be the reci- 
pients of the same pardon and cleansing. If we 
represent your disease to be malignant, we, at the 
same time, bring to you an effectual remedy. 
Painful indeed may be to you the discovery of 
your spiritual malady; but to close your eyes 
against it, is as unreasonable as it is ruinous. The 
malady is there, whether you are conscious of it 
or not; and if not speedily removed, by the appli- 



90 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



cation of the balm of Gilead, — heaven's sovereign 
antidote, — it must terminate in all the horrors of 
the second death. 

During the ravages of the plague in London, 
"in a princely mansion, around the evening fire- 
side, sat a family group that embraced the father, 
mother, and an only daughter, just ripening into 
womanhood, from the bloom and beauty of youth. 
They had been speaking of the plague, and their 
gratitude was given to Him who had them in his 
keeping, that as yet the destroyer had not entered 
their circle. At that moment the father's eye 
rested on his daughter s beautiful cheek, and he 
cried as if he had been pierced with a spear, 6 My 
daughter, the plague spot ! Oh ! my daughter !' 

" She assured him that he must be mistaken ; 
that she felt better than she had ever felt in her 
life before ; and as she passed her arms around his 
neck, and kissed his lips, he recoiled as if from a 
serpent that he loathed. She went to the mirror, 
and looked in, that she might see for herself, what 
had so alarmed her anxious parent, but she could 
see nothing, and again she begged him to dismiss 
his fears. But no, — it was there. She took the 
lamp in her hand, and walked to the glass, and as 
the light fell on her face, it revealed with awful 
clearness the fatal truth, and turning to her father, 
she fell into his arms, exclaiming, 6 1 am dead, my 
father ; / am dead f " 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 



91 



My dear hearer, the plague-spot of sin is on 
your soul ! You see it not, but it is there ; and 
could you but be persuaded to look for one mo- 
ment into the mirror of God's eternal law, the 
fearful fact would at once disclose itself to your 
view. Oh, that the light of Heaven may now 
shine upon your benighted mind, reveal to you 
your condition as a sinner, and, at the same time, 
your only help in Christ. Turn not away from 
the disclosure, unwelcome as it may be. If you 
do not see your danger, others do, and in kindness 
apprise* you of it. Attempt no longer to conceal 
or to deny your guilt. Know your misery, and 
flee at once to the fountain of cleansing. Bad as 
your condition already is, it is growing worse and 
worse. No time is to be lost. The dreadful ma- 
lady is at work in your system, and sin when it is 
finished bringeth forth death. Nothing but the 
blood of Jesus can reach your case. Now, then, 
look to him and live. Accept with gratitude the 
proffered remedy, and adore the grace of your 
great Deliverer. 



SEKMON V. 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED, OR HEAVEN'S ANTIDOTE 
FOR SIN. 

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and 
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. — 
Zechariah xiii. 1. 

That man is a fallen being, depraved and' guilty, 
is a fact that can admit of no question. Aside 
from the testimony of the Bible, the history of our 
race, the state of society, and our individual con- 
sciousness furnish an array of evidence on this sub- 
ject that can neither be overlooked nor ignored. 
In all ages of the world, the degeneracy of human 
nature has been acknowledged and deplored. 
Statesmen, philosophers, poets, have all admitted 
the evil, while they could furnish no adequate 
remedy for its removal. 

The very existence of human laws, implies that 
man is a selfish being, and that his passions need 
to be kept under restraint. Visit what portions 
of the earth you please, civilized or savage, and 
you every where meet with the developments of 
human depravity. Both in Christian and in heathen 
lands, the heart is found to be essentially the same, 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



93 



" deceitful above all things, and desperately 
wicked." 

The history of our world is a history of wrongs, 
a history of crimes. And then, if we turn our 
eyes within, and carefully inspect the operation of 
our own minds, who will not discover evidences of 
a nature fallen and ruined ; a nature averse to all 
good, and inclined to all evil ? There is no man 
truly candid and honest, who must not be ready 
to pass sentence upon himself, as well as upon the 
world around him. " Who can say, I have made 
my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?" " All have 
gone aside ; they are altogether become filthy ; 
there is none that doeth good, no not one." 

It would, however, be of little advantage to 
know our disease unless at the same time, we were 
directed to an adequate remedy, to be conscious of 
our sinfulness, and yet ignorant of the means by 
which sin may be removed. As individuals and 
as a race, it must be admitted that we need some 
influence by which the corruption of our nature 
may be eradicated, and man may be restored to 
his forfeited purity and happiness. But here the 
great question meets us. Where is that influence 
to be found ? Where is the appropriate remedy 
for sin ? What agency can raise our fallen hu- 
manity from its deep and woeful degradation, and 
restore our world to moral order and harmony ? 



94 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



Various expedients have been proposed to ac- 
complish this desirable end, some of which we shall 
now briefly notice, and then, after showing their 
utter insufficiency, direct your attention to heaven's 
grand and sovereign remedy. 

I. One means which is relied on, for the cure 
of human depravity is intelligence, or the general 
diffusion of knowledge. By many this is regarded 
as the grand catholicon for the restoration of dis- 
eased humanity. The public mind seems every 
where to be waking up to the importance of educa- 
tion, and men are now as loud in their plaudits of 
knowledge as they were formerly in descanting 
upon its supposed evils. The press is pouring 
forth its cheap literature ; lecturers on various 
scientific subjects are traversing the length and 
breadth of the land, furnishing the people informa- 
tion in the most popular and attractive style ; 
schools of every order are opened for the educa- 
tion of the children of the rich and the poor. 

Now, all this is as it should be. Christianity 
has nothing to fear from the cultivation of the hu- 
man intellect, or the discoveries of human science. 
Instead of discountenancing the efforts which are 
made to enlighten and improve the mind, she lends 
to them her cordial sanction and co-operation. But 
if any suppose that the mere dissemination of know- 
ledge can effect the regeneration of our world, they 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



95 



are certainly laboring under a most serious delu- 
sion, and are destined to certain disappointment. 
The cultivation of the intellect is not the cultiva- 
tion of the heart. There is no necessary connec- 
tion between the two. The utmost that knowledge 
can do is, to restrain or modify human corruption, 
and even for this it is often found utterly inade- 
quate. Knowledge is power to do evil as well as 
to do good. Many of our most accomplished vil- 
lains have been our most accomplished scholars. 
Countries and ages distinguished for science, have 
been equally distinguished for voluptuousness and 
crime. Egypt, the cradle of science, and Greece 
its temple, were sunk to the very lowest depths of 
human corruption, thus demonstrating the utter 
inefficacy of mere knowledge to cure the moral 
plague of the heart. 

II. Upon what, then, shall we depend-as an ade- 
quate remedy for the corruption of human nature ? 
Upon law ? 

This, indeed, may have its effect. It is an in- 
fluence that cannot be dispensed with. Bad as 
the world is, it would be infinitely worse, were it 
not for the restraints imposed by the arm of civil 
power. Tear down our prisons, abolish our legal 
statutes, and afford each one full license to act out 
the impulses of his own nature, and the race of 
men would soon be converted into a race of devils. 



96 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



Neither property, nor reputation, nor life would, 
for a moment remain secure. The prosperity of one 
would be the depression of another, and all sense 
of justice and humanity would be overpowered by 
the dominion of human selfishness and passion. 

And yet all that the best form of government 
can accomplish is, simply to keep the raging ele- 
ments of human corruption within certain bounds. 
It cannot reach the source of evil. While it may 
check certain forms of depravity, it takes no 
cognizance of others, and the man who sustains a 
reputable standing in the eye of the community, 
may, notwithstanding, be void of love both to his 
Maker and to his fellow-beings. 

Even divine legislation has been found wholly in- 
effectual to control the corruptions of our fallen 
nature. The law of God, though promulgated 
amid scenes of surpassing sublimity and terror, is 
still set at defiance. The very people who one 
day tremble at the scene, are the next seen in 
arms against the throne of heaven. What de- 
pendence, then, can be placed upon mere human 
legislation ? 

III. Equally ineffectual are all the maxims of hu- 
man philosophy to cleanse man from his moral de- 
filement. The experiment has been fairly made, 
and it has proved a manifest failure. Many of the 
Pagan philosophers acknowledged that human na- 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



97 



ture was strangely degenerate, but they neither 
understood the origin of the disease, nor its proper 
remedy. Their systems of morality were entirely 
defective and powerless. Vice was often con- 
founded with virtue, and the most flagitious crimes 
were sanctioned both by precept and example. 

And if they could not govern themselves, what 
influence could it be expected that their best 
maxims would exert upon others ? Indeed so in- 
effectual did they find all their efforts to reform 
society, that they confessed there was no prospect 
of any material improvement, without some new 
revelation from God to man. " You may resign," 
says Socrates, " all hope of reforming the manners 
of men, unless it please God to send some person 
to instruct you." " Whatever is set right," says 
Plato, " in the present ill state of the world, can 
be done only by the interposition of God." 

Modern infidel philosophy can boast of no higher 
achievements. If it possesses any additional light, 
it is indebted for it to that very revelation which 
it discards, and which it affects to despise. Truly 
u the world by wisdom knew not God." 

IV. We may next notice, as another pretended 
remedy for human corruption, the various forms of 
socialism. However diversified may be these 
forms, they all agree in attributing moral evil not 

9 



98 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



to any inherent depravity, but to a defective 
organization of society. "Evil/' it is said, "is 
always superficial, and of its very nature, there- 
fore, perishable or transitive. It is unknown at 
the heart of things ; and when, therefore, the 
heart of things become fully operative at the ex- 
tremities, or when the centre governs the circum- 
ference, it will utterly die out of remembrance." 

The remedy which these reformers accordingly 
suggest, is the entire reconstruction of human 
society, so that all men shall be brought to an 
equality and form one fraternity. Property must 
be equally distributed ; the poor must be raised 
to a level with the rich ; the family relation must 
be abolished, and all religious institutions set aside, 
as no longer adapted to the superior illumination 
of the present century. 

Misguided men ! how little do they understand 
either the causes or the remedy of human corrup- 
tion. How utterly abortive have proved all the 
efforts which they have yet made to reform the 
world. In all the associations which have been 
formed to carry out their boasted plans, there has 
been only defeat and disappointment. 

The foundation of the various forms of socialism 
is nothing but a modified species of infidelity. 
Ignorant of the deep depravity of the human 
heart, and of the power of the Gospel to purify 
it, men are vainly attempting to " gather grapes 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



99 



of thorns, and figs of thistles." Instead of stem- 
ming the tide of human corruption, they are only 
giving to it additional force. Instead of making 
our world what they propose — a second heaven — 
they would, were their principles fully developed, 
turn it into a second hell. 

V. Alike impotent are all human associations for 
moral reform, unaccompanied by the sanctifying influ- 
ence of the Gospel. Such associations, baptized 
with the spirit of Christianity, may, indeed, do 
much towards the correction of existing evils. 
The temperance enterprise, for example, has evi- 
dently stamped upon it the seal of Heaven ; and 
both as a means of preventing drunkenness, and 
of reforming the inebriate, has already accom- 
plished wonders. The moral influence of tempe- 
rance societies, and other kindred associations, 
must, however, depend mainly upon their close 
alliance with evangelical truth, accompanied by 
earnest prayer for the divine blessing. To reason 
effectually of u temperance" we must also reason 
of u righteousness and judgment to come" The 
truth must be brought to bear upon the conscience, 
and in our efforts to turn men from particular 
forms of vice, we must labor to destroy the very 
root of evil, by renewing the disposition and mo- 
tives of the heart. A mere external reformation 
may make a man appear different in the eyes of 



100 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



the world, but it cannot alter his standing before 
God. Man is corrupt within as well as without. 
Nothing, therefore, short of a spiritual renovation 
— a new creation, can ever eradicate the principle 
of evil and restore him to fellowship with infinite 
purity. 

All attempts either to promote the moral im- 
provement of ourselves or of others, while we 
discard the necessity of a new birth, are founded 
upon utter ignorance of human depravity, and 
must meet with inevitable defeat. 

The experience of Dr. Chalmers, of Scotland, 
affords a most instructive lesson on this point. 
How fruitless was the experiment which he made 
during a long period of his ministry, to effect the 
reformation of his parishioners, by inculcating 
simply the principles of morality. Notwithstand- 
ing the vehemence with which he urged the vir- 
tues and proprieties of social life, it had not, he 
tells us, " the weight of a feather" upon the moral 
habits of his parishioners. "And it was not," he 
further states, " until I got impressed with the 
utter alienation of the heart in all its desires and 
affections from God ; it was not till the free offer 
of forgiveness, through the blood of Christ, was 
urged upon their acceptance, that I ever heard of 
any of those subordinate reformations, which I 
aforetime made the earnest and the zealous, but I 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



101 



am afraid, at the same time, the ultimate object of 
my earlier ministrations. I have at last learnt 
that to preach Christ is the only effective way of 
preaching morality in all its branches." 

Equally ineffectual did he find the influence of 
moral principles to overcome the power of sin in 
himself. There was a time, even after he had 
entered the Christian ministry, when he " nause- 
ated and despised God's mode of justifying men 
freely by faith in Christ/' and when he vainly 
supposed that "the rewards of heaven are attached 
to the exercise of our virtuous affections/' irre- 
spective of the satisfaction made to violated justice 
by the atonement of the Saviour. In the course 
of time he was visited successively by several 
afflictive providences. Hard, indeed, did he now 
strive to attain to that pure standard of morality 
which he had proposed as the perfection of human 
nature ; but every struggle was attended only 
with mortifying defeat. The more he contemplated 
the purity of God's law, the more he became con- 
vinced of the entire defect of his own righteous- 
ness, and of the strength of his own depravity. 
At length the great doctrine of the atonement 
opened itself to his mind with all its wonders. 
Here he discovered just what he needed, and what 
he had in vain sought from every other source — 
not only peace to his troubled conscience, but 

9* 



102 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



power over sin. He now loved the cross just as 
much as he had before despised it. While he 
made it the centre of all his own hopes, it ever 
constituted the grand theme of his preaching, and 
his sole dependence in every effort to win men to 
God and heaven. 

VI. I may further remark — No reliance can be 
placed on the observance of any religious rites, whether 
of human or divine appointment, as containing any 
inherent efficacy to cleanse man from sin. In all 
ages of the world there has been a tendency to 
depend on such rites, exclusive of the sanctifying 
influence of the Holy Spirit. This was the great 
sin of the Jews — a sin, however, too common even 
amid all the light of the present dispensation. 
Not only the deluded Romanist, but numbers who 
are included in the ranks of Protestantism, know 
no other religion than that of form and ceremony. 
The religion of sacr anient arianism, as it has been 
designated, constitutes one of tire leading and 
most dangerous heresies of the day — a religion 
which, however much it may accord with the 
natural pride and self-righteousness of the human 
heart, still leaves the dominion of sin unbroken. 
It cleanses the outside of the cup and the platter, 
while within there is nothing but uncleanness. 
Men talk of baptismal regeneration, of baptismal 
grace y but let them furnish us with proof that all 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



103 



those who are washed with water are also renewed 
by the Holy Ghost. Let them prove, too, that all 
who receive the bread and the wine in the Holy 
Supper, are actually partakers of Christ and his 
benefits. What wretched delusion thus to mistake 
the shadow for the substance, the sign for the 
thing signified. What contemptible quackery thus 
to " heal the hurt slightly, crying peace, peace, 
when there is no peace." 

" No outward forms can make me clean, 
The leprosy lies deep within." 

Is there then no balm in Gilead ? Is there no 
physician there ? Must sin ever retain its domi- 
nion over the human mind ? Must our world ever 
remain what it now is, the scene of pollution and 
guilt ? Listen again to the glad announcement in 
the text, "In that day" — the day of wdiich the 
prophet had just spoken, — the times of the Mes- 
siah, "In that day, there shall be a fountain opened 
to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Je- 
rusalem" to both rulers and people, "for sin and 
for uncleanness" 

To what but the atoning blood, in connection 
with the sanctifying grace of Christ, can these 
words point ? Here is the only hope of our lost 
and ruined world — the only influence by which it 
can be brought back to, holiness and happiness. 



104 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



u The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all 
sin." " He gave himself for us that he might re- 
deem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself 
a peculiar people, zealous of good works." 

Not a soul has ever been recovered from the de- 
filement of sin, but in this all-cleansing fountain. 
The redeemed in glory all "washed their robes, 
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." 
" Ye are washed," said Paul, to the once idolatrous 
and voluptuous Corinthians, " Ye are sanctified, ye 
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and 
by the Spirit of our God." 

The system of redemption, revealed in the gos- 
pel, is one that exactly meets our case. While it 
delivers us from the penalty of sin, it also delivers us 
from its reigning power. It reaches the very foun- 
tain of human corruption. It not only reforms ; 
it also regenerates. While it regulates the con- 
duct, it also purifies the heart. It changes the life 
by changing our principles of action. It binds us 
in love to our fellow-men, by first binding us in 
love to God. It saves us not merely from the 
practice of sin, but from the love of sin. In its 
warfare with evil, it is wholly uncompromising. 
It denounces it in every form and in every degree. 
It spares it neither in thought, nor word, nor deed. 
It requires us to be holy even as God is holy, to 
walk even as Christ walked. 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



105 



And while it lays upon us such high and sacred 
obligations, it also affords us the grace necessary for 
compliance. It furnishes us with motives the most 
rousing, and promises the most cheering. Instead 
of being left to our own weakness, we are " strength- 
ened with all might." The grace of Christ, which 
quickened us when we were dead in trespasses and 
in sins, also upholds us in our spiritual existence. 
Thus we advance from one stage of our new life 
to another, until we " stand complete in all the 
will of God," and are ultimately presented before 
the throne " without spot, or wrinkle, or any such 
thing." 

This is not mere theory. Facts in abundance 
are before us, affording the fullest demonstration 
that the gospel can do for man all that it claims to 
do — that it is truly u the power of God to salva- 
tion." How many living witnesses might we ad- 
duce to attest its efficacy. The slaves of sin have 
been made free in Christ. What other agency has 
ever effected such a transformation in human cha- 
racter, and in human society? Partial as has 
hitherto been the influence of the gospel, it has 
done for our world what all other influences com- 
bined could not effect. Who cannot discern the 
marked difference between heathen and christian 
countries, in everything that tends to enlighten, 
elevate, and bless our race ? What wonderful tri- 



106 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



uinphs did the gospel achieve when it was first 
promulgated. Ignorance, superstition, impurity, 
all vanished before it ; the fetters of iniquity were 
broken, and ransomed thousands exulted in the 
liberty wherewith Christ made them free. 

And wherever "the truth as it is in Jesus" is 
proclaimed, at the present day, there may be wit- 
nessed the same glorious results. Nations once 
enveloped in the grossest moral darkness, and sunk 
to the very lowest level of humanity, have, under 
the preaching of the cross, emerged into light, 
liberty and joy. But a few years since, the Sand- 
wich Islands contained a population that might be 
truly represented as in the very region of the 
shadow of death- now their secular and moral 
condition is scarcely inferior to that of our own 
favored country. 

The purifying efficacy of the gospel is attested 
by facts — facts which meet us at every turn. The 
history of nations, and the history of individuals ; 
every revival of pure religion, and every instance 
of true conversion, proclaim to us the wonderful 
adaptation of Heaven's appointed means to reclaim 
a lost and helpless race. 

" This remedy did wisdom find, 
To heal diseases of the mind ; 
This sovereign balm whose virtues can, 
Restore the ruined creature man." 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



107 



Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to 
the Holy Ghost. 

REMARKS. 

1. Let this subject impress us with the import- 
ance of sustaining religious institutions. There are 
those who regard all the money expended in this 
cause as a dead loss. " For what purpose," say 
they, " is this waste V Little do such men know 
how to appreciate the influence of the gospel either 
upon individual or upon national prosperity. What 
but the gospel has made us, as a people, what we 
are ? And what but the same gospel can perpetuate 
our exalted privileges? Let us suppose that 
for a single century every Christian temple were 
closed, the Sabbath abolished, the sacred Scrip- 
ures banished, and the voice of the preacher 
hushed, who could describe the scene of moral 
desolation and ruin that would spread over the 
wide extent of our land ? Everywhere the flood- 
gates of vice would be opened — the monster, 
intemperance, would stalk abroad unresisted, car- 
rying forward his work of death and perdition — - 
human rights would be invaded — prisons and peni- 
tentiaries would be multiplied, and the days of our 
national prosperity numbered, and known only in 
the history of the past. 

Religious institutions are worth infinitely more 
than they cost. The money contributed for their 



108 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



support and extension, affords the safest and most 
profitable investment. Religion must ever be the 
ground of our national prosperity, if not of our na- 
tional existence. Well did the father of our coun- 
try understand this when he said, " Of all the dis- 
positions and habits which lead to political pros- 
perity, religion and morality are indispensable 
supports." "And," continues he, "let us with 
caution indulge the supposition that morality can 
be maintained without religion. Whatever may 
be conceded to the influence of refined education, 
or minds of a peculiar structure, reason and expe- 
rience both forbid us to expect that national mo- 
rality can prevail in exclusion of religious prin- 
ciple." 

2. What a poiverfid motive does this subject fur- 
nish to extend the influence of Christianity over our 
entire earth, The religion of the gospel is adapted 
for the world, and is designed for the world. Its 
provisions are made for the world, and its blessings 
are to be tendered to the world. It is a religion 
as much suited for one country as for another ; for 
one class of society as for another — the only reli- 
gion that can reclaim a wandering race to God and 
holiness. Everything else has been demonstrated 
to be utterly ineffectual. This is heavens antidote 
for the w y oes of our fallen humanity. Wherever 
this comes, it comes as an angel of mercy ; and if 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



109 



it has already accomplished such wonders, limited 
as has been its extent, what may we not hope to 
realize when it spreads its wings over the entire 
earth. Then the darkness of ages shall vanish, 
the noise of war be hushed, the chains of op- 
pression broken, the raging passions of man 
curbed, and purity, harmony and joy, take up 
their abode in every land, in every dwelling, and 
in every heart. When, oh, when shall that happy 
era dawn ! When shall the gospel, with its mes- 
sage of love, speed its flight over every continent 
and every island, over every sea and every land, 
over every mountain and every valley, until the 
shout echoes and re-echoes "like the sound of many 
waters." " It is done ! Hallelujah ! The Lord 
God omnipotent reigneth ! The kingdoms of this 
world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and 
of his Christ j" 

3. I must now add : Let us, as individuals, repair 
to the fountain of cleansing. It is thus only that it 
can be rendered effectual. That fountain has been 
opened for you, for me, for all. There is no man 
who has any knowledge of himself that must not 
feel the necessity of a spiritual renovation. "We 
are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteous- 
nesses are as filthy rags." And what can remove 
the deep and dismal stain, save the blood of atone- 
ment ? No tears of penitence — no baptismal water 
10 



110 



THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 



— no purgatorial fires — nothing, nothing but the 
blood of the Lamb. 

" There is a fountain filled with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuel's veins; 
And sinners plunged beneath that flood, 
Lose all their guilty stains." 

That blood is as efficacious now as it ever was. 
It has already availed for thousands, and it can 
avail for you. The fountain is still open and ac- 
cessible. Oh, that you now may prove its efficacy. 
Come with all your guilt and defilement. Come ye 
self-righteous moralists. Come ye cold and barren 
professors. Come ye prodigals, ye chief of sinners, 
come. " Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall 
be as white as snow ; though they be red like crim- 
son, they shall be as wool." " If I wash thee not," 
says Jesus, "thou hast no part with me;" no part 
with him in his kingdom of grace here, nor in his 
kingdom of glory hereafter. There is no salvation 
from misery but in salvation from sin. Not a soul 
will enter heaven unless washed and made white 
in the blood of the Lamb. The pure in heart alone 
shall see God, and there can be no moral purity in 
sinners, but in a moral cleansing ; and remember, 
the blood of Jesus alone cleanseth from all sin. 



SERMON VI. 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. — 
John xii. 32. 

Man is a wanderer from God. The essence of 
our apostacy consists in withdrawing our affections 
from the Creator, and centering them in the crea- 
ture. " All we/' says the prophet, " like sheep 
have gone astray, we have turned every one to his 
own way." Our entire race has thrown off its al- 
legiance to the throne of heaven, and set up an in- 
terest altogether separate and hostile. 

Man, left to himself, will continue this revolt 
forever. Instead of returning to the path of recti- 
tude, he wanders still farther from it, until he 
wanders into the blackness of eternal remorse and 
despair. " No man," says Jesus, " can come to 
me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw 
him." He has no disposition to give up his wan- 
derings, and seek the divine favor. His purpose 
is only to do evil, and all his moral perceptions 
have become blinded and perverted. 



112 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 



Never will he be restored from this deep and 
deplorable apostacy, without the interposition of 
grace. In God alone is his help ; and in onr text 
we are referred to the grand means which infinite 
benevolence and wisdom have appointed to bring 
back an alienated race to God and holiness. " And 
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
unto me." The reference here is, to the Saviour's 
crucifixion ; for it is immediately added, " This he 
spake signifying what death he should die." Thus, 
"as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, 
even so must the son of man be lifted up, that who- 
soever believeth in him might not perish, but have? 
everlasting life." 

The drawing of which Christ speaks in the text, 
is evidently not & physical but a moral drawing ; not 
the drawing of force or coercion, but of argument 
and persuasion ; not that kind of drawing by which 
the planets are moved in their orbits, or a stone 
thrown into the air, falls by the power of gravita- 
tion to the earth, but a drawing adapted to men as 
creatures of intellect, will, conscience, and heart. 
They are drawn, not in opposition to their wills, 
but with their cordial concurrence ; drawn in per- 
fect accordance with the constitution of the mind, 
and by influences which the sinner feels no dis- 
position to resist; drawn just as the affectionate 
child is drawn in love, and prompt obedience to 
the parent; just as the object of your charities is 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 



113 



drawn to acknowledge with heart-felt gratitude, 
the kindness of his benefactor; just as the wounded 
Israelites were drawn to look to the divinely ap- 
pointed method of healing ; just as the patient is 
drawn in anxious solicitude and fond expectation 
towards his attending physician ; just as the drown- 
ing man is drawn to seize the rope extended for 
his rescue; just as many of you, we trust, have 
been drawn to-day to the sanctuary of God, and 
as you are daily drawn to your closets for medita- 
tion and prayer. "I drew them with cords of a 
man, with bands of love." "Draw me," said the 
spouse, " and I will run after thee." 

The subject of our present discourse will be the 
attractive power of the cross. There is every thing in 
the great fact of a Saviour s crucifixion, and the 
atonement which was made by it, calculated to 
draw the heart of man to God and to holiness. 

I. Contemplate the dignity and excellency of Cal- 
vary s victim. Who is it that writhes in agony on 
yonder tree ? Who is it that the world has thus 
rejected, persecuted, and slain ? What evil has 
he done ? For what crime does he suffer ? Strange 
to tell, this is no other than the " brightness of the 
Father's glory, and the express image of his per- 
son." — " The lamb without blemish and without 
spot." Treated, though he is as guilty, his char- 

10* 



114 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE GROSS. 



acter is immaculate; "he knew no sin." Even 
his enemies could "find no fault in him." In 
him centred every conceivable excellence ; he is 
"altogether lovely," worthy of the love, confidence, 
and imitation of every child of man. Blind indeed 
must be the mind ; perverse indeed must be the 
heart that can discern nothing in a character like 
this to admire and adore. Here human nature is 
exhibited in its highest moral perfection ; here is 
one who has afforded an exemplification of all that is 
true, of all that is just, of all that is amiable, of all 
that man was before his sad defection, and of all 
that man is destined to be when fulty restored by 
the power of divine grace. If there is any thing 
in moral excellence that can awaken esteem, with 
what emotions should we contemplate a character 
so exalted, and so unsullied. 

But in the victim of the cross, we have not only 
humanity in all its perfection ; we have also divinity 
in all its glory. " In him dwelleth all the fullness 
of the Godhead bodily." Veiled as were for a 
season the glories of the divine nature, it was that 
nature which constituted the altar on which the 
atoning sacrifice was offered, and which imparted 
to it its peculiar virtue. Though the manhood of 
Christ alone could suffer, it was his divinity which 
enabled him to sustain his sufferings, and which 
stamped them with infinite merit, What a won- 
derful personage, then, is this ! God and man, — the 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 115 

Creator and the creature,— strength and feebleness,— 
heaven and earth united in one ! " God was in 
Christ reconciling the world unto himself." The 
Lord of glory dies for man. He leaves, as it were, 
for a season, his throne of majesty; he lays aside 
his robes of royalty, and flies to the rescue of a 
guilty and ruined race. What wonders, then, 
centre in the cross. What ineffable glory beams 
from that face that was once marred with tears, 
and with blood. " No man hath seen God at any 
time ; the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom 
of the Father he hath declared him." 

II. The ^redisplayed in the cross, invests it with 
a power to subdue the obduracy of the human heart. 

What but mercy could ever have prompted the 
offended majesty of heaven to devise, and carry 
into execution the wondrous scheme of human re- 
demption? As fallen beings, our condition was as 
hopeless as it was wretched, our doom as just as 
it was terrible. The violated law demanded our 
death; and if the penalty of that law is remitted, 
it must be by an act of grace alone. We deserved 
no relief, we asked for none. No petition was sent 
up to heaven for mercy ; no disposition was mani- 
fested to return to our allegiance. To our rebel- 
lion we had added the most obstinate perverseaess, 
and we had only to be left to our own wayward- 
ness to complete and to seal our ruin. 



116 THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 

"Attend, ye heavens ! ye heaven of heavens attend, 
Attend, and wonder ! wonder ever more ! 
When man had fallen, rebelled, insulted God ; 
Was most polluted, yet most madly proud ; 
Indebted infinitely ; yet most poor : 
Captive to sin, yet unwilling to be bound ; 
To God's incensed justice, and hot wrath 
Exposed : due victim of eternal death, 
And utter woe — harp lift thy voice on high ! 
Ye everlasting hills ! ye angels bow ! 
Bow ye redeemed of men ! God was made flesh, 
And dwelt with man on earth ! the Son of God, 
Only begotten, and well beloved, between 
Men and his Father's justice interposed; 
Put human nature on ; His wrath sustained, 
And in their name, suffered, obeyed, and died, 
Making his soul an offering for sin." Pollock. 

Now, if there is any thing in kindness calculated 
to melt, to subdue, to win the heart, what amazing 
power must there be in the cross to move even the 
marble heart of man. Who can think of the pity 
of our God, the sacrifice which has been made for 
our redemption, the voluntary obedience and suf- 
ferings of u the friend of sinners," his poverty and 
shame, his tears and blood, and all this for his 
bitterest foes, and yet hold out in determined hos- 
tility. If you defy Jehovah's thunders, surely 
you cannot trifle with his love. Where is the 
man who does not feel the power of this motive ? 
Where the individual in this assembly who has 
not, at times, been melted by the story of the 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 



117 



cross ? True, you may stifle the feeling awakened 
in your bosom ; you may speedily wipe away the 
tear that falls unbidden from your eye, and may 
soon assume your accustomed firmness and insensi- 
bility ; yet remain unmoved you cannot. The rock 
will be smitten ; the waters will gush ; and it is 
only by a most desperate effort that you have re- 
sisted the appeal which the cross thus makes to 
all the generous impulses of your nature. 

III. The tendency of the cross to draw men to 
God will further appear, when we take into consi- 
deration the strong and decided testimony which 
it bears both to the righteousness of the law, and the 
infinite evil of sin. 

In the controversy between God and man, it is 
of the highest importance that it should be seen 
to which party the blame belongs. Never will the 
sinner become reconciled to his Maker, without the 
frank confession that God is right and he is wrong. 
Never will he repent of sin, until convinced of its 
aggravated guilt and turpitude. Whatever tends 
to proclaim the holiness, justice, and benevolence 
of the law, tends to exhibit the evil of transgres- 
sion, and thus furnishes a motive to humiliation 
and contrition. 

Now, one grand design of the Saviour's mission 
was, to " magnify the law and make it honorable." 
His sacrifice so far from declaring the law to be 



118 THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 

unreasonable — so far from abolishing its obliga- 
tion, enforces its observance by still more powerful 
motives, and proclaims it to be of universal and 
perpetual force. Rather than set aside its claims, 
and weaken its authority, he himself became a, 
curse, in order that the curse might be removed 
from us. The Gospel calls on men to repent as 
well as to believe — to repent of sin. And what is 
sin but the transgression of the law ? Just in pro- 
portion as the law is just, must sin be evil ; and 
that it is just, is declared not only by the suffer- 
ings of the lost, but by the agony of the Son of 
God. He died to sustain its authority, while, at 
the same time, a way might be opened for the con- 
sistent pardon of the sinner. 

The object of repentance is sin. In proportion, 
therefore, to the malignancy of sin, is the motive 
to repentance. Man will never repent of sin until 
convinced of its heinousness ; but where is its 
heinousness so fully and forcibly demonstrated as 
in the tragedy of the cross ? The design of the 
Saviour s sufferings was, to " condemn sin in the 
flesh" — to proclaim to all worlds its inexcusable- 
ness, criminality, and desert. That sin is offen- 
sive to God may, indeed, be seen in his judgments. 
His dealings with our race plainly show that he 
has a controversy with man. " The whole crea- 
tion groaneth, and travaileth in pain," under the 
merited displeasure of Heaven. Every affliction 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 119 

to which flesh is heir, not only teaches us that we 
are guilty, but also that sin is u that abominable 
thing which God hates." But neither the sorrows 
of earth, nor the woes of perdition, afford such an 
expressive exhibition of Jehovah's deep and im- 
mutable abhorrence of sin, as the unparalleled suf- 
ferings of the Son of God. It was for sin that he 
died, and it was by the hands of sinners, too, that 
he died. Victims may bleed by thousands ; the 
most costly sacrifice that earth can furnish may be 
offered; but nothing, nothing save the precious 
blood of Christ, can constitute any effective pro- 
pitiation for human guilt. Go ye, then, who make 
light of sin, and gaze upon that mournful spec- 
tacle. Behold the substitute of shmers as he 
quivers on yonder cross ; and as you contemplate 
the thrilling scene, let your hearts melt to contri- 
tion, and your eyes overflow with grief, in view of 
that accursed thing which thus wounded and lace- 
rated the immaculate Saviour. " They shall look 
upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall 
mourn as one mourneth for his only son." 

It is said of Antonius, a Roman senator, that 
when he wished to provoke the people to avenge 
the death of Caesar, slain in the senate by Brutus 
and Cassius, he held up to view the robe of the 
emperor, and exclaimed, " Here is the bloody robe 
of your emperor !" So to provoke your vengeance 



120 THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 

against sin, would we point you to the cross, 
stained with the hallowed blood of the innocent 
but tortured victim. Behold the man ! Behold 
what sin has done — your sin — my sin — the sin of 
a world in rebellion against the throne of heaven ! 
Oh, drop those weapons to-day at the foot of the 
cross — cherish no longer those lusts that have cru- 
cified the Son of God. 

IV. The exhibition of the cross is also admirably 
calculated to dethrone from the human heart the 
principle of selfishness. 

Selfishness is the very essence of mails apos- 
tacy. No sooner did his affections become alien- 
ated from God, than they became absorbed in 
himself. Every form of human depravity may, 
perhaps, be traced to an inordinate and idolatrous 
self-love. We have everyone "turned to his own 
w T ay." " All seek their own, and not the things 
of Jesus Christ." Men are " lovers of their own 
selves," and in the pursuit of their private and 
selfish ends, encroach both upon the rights of God 
and of each other. 

Now, we need some influence to overcome this 
reigning principle of our fallen nature ; an influ- 
ence by which we shall be drawn to God as the 
object of supreme affection and regard, and to our 
proper position in relation to the great family of 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 121 

man with which we stand connected. That influ- 
ence can be found alone in the cross. What can 
be more calculated to subdue the proud and selfish 
passions of the human heart, and restore us to the 
lost spirit of benevolence, than the contemplation 
of the love of God in Christ Jesus? What an 
example of pure, disinterested benevolence is here 
presented for our imitation. " Herein is love, not 
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent 
his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." " A 
new commandment," says Jesus, " give I unto you, 
that ye love one another, even as I have loved you" 
The Son of God was an incarnation of love. It 
was love that prompted him to assume the work 
of our redemption, and that carried him through 
all his scenes of conflict and trial, until he could 
say, "It is finished." Love breathed in his every 
word, and his every prayer. Love led him to take 
the bitter cup of suffering, and drink it to its very 
dregs ; to bare his bosom to the sword of justice, 
and die in untold agonies on the accursed tree. 
"Now," says the Apostle, "if God so loved us, 
we ought also to love one another." In the light 
of this exalted pattern, how odious appears the 
sin of selfishness, and how powerful the motive to 
active and self-denying benevolence. It was the 
contemplation of the love of Christ that led the 
primitive Christians to such noble deeds of self- 
11 



122 THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 

devotion to each other, and to a world in ruins. 
It was this that united them, as members of one 
great family, in mutual harmony and friendship. 
It was this that influenced them cheerfully to 
make any sacrifice of riches, honor, and ease, and 
to welcome poverty, reproach, suffering, and death, 
so that they might but please Christ, and advance 
the great interests of his kingdom. It was this 
that urged the heralds of salvation on from city to 
city, and from village to village, over land and 
over sea, resolved on filling the earth with the 
glorious and peaceful principles of their holy reli- 
gion. The love of Christ constrained them. That 
love was in them stronger than death. It could 
endure all sufferings — brave all dangers — resist all 
seductions — surmount all difficulties. That love 
has lost none of its power. What it did formerly, 
it does still. True religion begins with the prac- 
tical recognition of the principle, that we are not 
our own, but the Lord's. Henceforth we live for 
him, who gave his life a ransom for us. Instead 
of asking, in the spirit of selfishness, " Am I my 
brothers keeper?" we acknowledge ourselves to 
be "debtors to all men;" and the salvation we 
have found to be so precious to our own hearts, 
we endeavor to extend to all lands and all nations. 
There can be no motive to benevolence, to libe- 
rality, to self-sacrifice, like that which is derived 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 



123 



from the cross. The man who properly appre- 
ciates the love and condescension of Christ to him, 
can want no further impulse to do what he can for 
the promotion of the happiness of all whom his in- 
fluence may reach. 

V. Consider, in the next place, the light which 
the cross sheds upon the moral character and condi- 
tion of man, and its tendency to destroy his vain con- 
fidence and hopes. Not only does it exhibit the 
evil and demerit of sin, but it also establishes the 
fact, that we are sinners— universally sinners. For 
as Christ " died for all," so the Apostle teaches us 
" all were dead" — dead in sin, and under the penalty 
of death eternal. The design of the Saviour's mis- 
sion was to save the lost — he died for the ungodly 
— he suffered for the unjust. Such, in the view of 
the omniscient eye, was the character of our en- 
tire race, without a solitary exception. The pro- 
vision of the Gospel is general, because the fall of 
the race is general ; and if any man in this as- 
sembly should regard his case as an exception, 
what is this but a virtual declaration that the 
atonement was never made for him — salvation was 
never purchased for *him. While the cross pro- 
claims that there is salvation in Christ, it also pro- 
claims that it is in him alone. Upon what, my 
hearer, do you base your hope of future happiness ? 
Upon your innocency ? But the cross declares that 



124 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 



you are guilty. The Son of God died to save none 
but sinners. 

Do you found your hope upon superficial views 
of the evil and desert of sin ? In the cross the ma- 
lignity of sin is written in characters of blood. 

Do you expect the happiness of heaven simply 
because God is benevolent ? The cross declares that 
he is also just — so just that he will " by no means 
clear the guilty." Rather than stain his justice, 
he stained the cross with the blood of his own 
beloved Son. 

Is morality the ground of your confidence ? In 
tones distinct and solemn, the cross cries in your 
ear, " By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be 
justified." "If righteousness come by the law, 
then has Christ died in vain." " Without shed- 
ding of blood there is no remission." 

Nothing, therefore, is so well adapted to make 
men acquainted with themselves, to sweep away 
all their refuges of lies, to impress them with their 
utter ruin and helplessness, as just views of the 
redemption of Christ. Other foundation can no 
man lay save that which has been laid in the 
atoning sacrifice of the Cross. 

VI. There is also a wonderful adaption in the 
cross to detach the affections of man from this vain 
and shadowy earth. It is strikingly characteristic 
of all men in their fallen state, that " they mind 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THJ3 CROSS. 125 

earthly things." The heart having been withdrawn 
from God, is now fixed with idolatrous attachment 
upon the world. We need some power to break 
this attachment, and teach our thoughts and aspi- 
rations to ascend to things spiritual and divine. 
That power may be found in the cross. " God 
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified 
unto me, and I unto the world." Absorbed in the 
glories of the cross, how insignificant and vain 
will appear to us all the glitter and fascinations of 
earth. Who that has drank at the fountain can 
be content with the streams ? Who that has 
basked in the splendors of the Godhead, can be 
captivated with the charms of the creature ? 

" As by the light of opening day, 
The stars are all concealed ; 
So earthly glories fade away, 
When Jesus is revealed." 

As a view of the sun in his unclouded splendor 
casts a shade upon every surrounding object, so a 
view of the Father's glory in the face of Jesus, 
eclipses all the glory of earth, and the things 
which once excited our admiration lose their attrac- 
tions in the superior brilliancy with which we now 
become encircled. What are all the pleasures of 
earth when compared with " the joy of salvation ?" 
To gaze upon the atoning Lamb, to contemplate 

11* 



126 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 



the wonders of redeeming mercy, to be ravished 
with the smile of God, to look up to heaven and 
behold there the eternal weight of glory laid up 
for me as my blissful portion — oh, what is the 
world, with all its pomp and tinsel, to me now ? 
I have now opened my vision upon a brighter 
scene ; I converse with substantial realities ; I 
have in prospect an unfading inheritance, and my 
soul, leaving this dark and empty world behind, 
springs forward with exultation to seize the anti- 
cipated prize. 

What a shade, then, does the cross cast over all 
the pageantry of earth. How does it stain the 
pride of human glory. The Son of God submitted 
to the lowest state of humiliation to teach us that 
his kingdom is not of this world, and to carry the 
thoughts and aspirations of his disciples forward 
to an incorruptible treasure, to unalloyed pleasures, 
and to unfading glory. 

VII. The cross of Christ also affords the highest 
encouragement for alienated man to return to God. 
While it represents his state to be one of utter 
apostacy and ruin, it at the same time declares 
that there is hope. While it reveals to us a God 
of unbending justice, it also reveals one of bound- 
less mercy. It is no easy matter for a sinner, 
deeply convinced of sin, to believe that he can be 
forgiven. On his own heart is written the sen- 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 127 



tetice of his condemnation, and without the reve- 
lation which God has made of himself in the Gos- 
pel of his grace, who that is conscious of his proper 
desert would dare to lift up his prayer for pardon ? 
Who would attempt to cast himself at the feet of 
his offended sovereign with any hope of favor? 
The law of God, glorious as it is, worketh, with 
the disobedient, nothing but wrath. It may con- 
vict, but it can never convert. It may kill, but it 
can never make alive. It may condemn, but it 
can never justify. It may agitate the soul with 
terror, but it can never inspire hope. 64 The law 
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus,' ' says the 
Apostle, u hath made me free from the law of sin 
and death ; for what the law could not do, in that 
it was weak through the flesh, God sending his 
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin 
condemned sin in the flesh." Here alone is power 
over sin; here alone is pardon for the guilty. 
Flee not, 0 sinner, away from the presence of God 
in despair. Behold him as he comes forth to meet 
you, not with a countenance frowning with ven- 
geance, but beaming with love. The claims of his 
dishonored justice have been fully met ; the de- 
mands of his violated law have been fully satisfied. 
Lo, the cloud of wrath has vanished, and the rain- 
bow of promise appears in the heavens, inviting 
you to look up and live. Crushed with the enor- 



128 THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 

rnity of your guilt, trembling on the verge of utter 
ruin, fix your eye of faith upon the bleeding, tor- 
tured victim, your substitute, your Redeemer, 
your advocate. See that stream as it flows to 
wash away your crimsoned stain. Hear that voice 
as it falls on your ear in tones of melting tender- 
ness — 

" This blood is for thy ransom shed, 
I die that thou niayest live." 

Fallen as you are, you may yet be restored. 
You are not in the condition of apostate angels, 
shut up under chains of eternal darkness and des- 
pair. Your prison-door is opened, and you may 
now come forth into all the liberty of the sons of 
God. The dreadful sentence under which you lie 
may be repealed, and with confidence may you 
look up to the face of God, and call him your 
Father and your friend. 

REMARKS. 

1. We may learn from this subject the grand 
theme of an evangelical and successful ministry — 
Christ and his cross — the truth as it is in Jesus. 
This and this only can overcome man's hostility to 
God, and restore him to holiness and bliss. Every- 
thing else will be found utterly impotent. The 
inculcation of the principles of morality, important 
as it may be in its place, can never win the heart 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 



129 



back to its forfeited rectitude. "We may even 
proclaim the law in all its purity, its spirituality, 
and its comprehensiveness, but the more clearly 
the sinner is made to see the demands and the 
sanctions of that law, the more overwhelmed will 
he be with his ruin, and the more will his corrup- 
tions be developed. True, we must carry our 
hearers to Sinai ; its dreadful thunders must be 
rolled upon their ears, and its lightnings be made 
to flash upon their vision. All this, however, is 
only to prepare them to gaze with wonder, grati- 
tude, and hope upon the bleeding cross. Leading 
them away from every other dependence, they 
must be pointed to the Lamb of God as the one 
great sacrifice for sin, by which a fallen world can 
be brought back to loyalty and peace. This alone 
can meet our case. All other preaching is utterly 
powerless. Christ crucified alone is " the power 
of God unto salvation." There is, indeed, a way 
of preaching the cross that may render it "of none 
effect." The cross may be mentioned in every 
sermon, and in every sentence, while, after all, you 
may have only its shadow, its semblance. The 
precious doctrine which it embodies may be con- 
cealed, or so buried in human traditions and cor- 
ruptions, that its glory may be completely tar- 
nished, and its influence neutralized. It is a 
singular fact that the more men have multiplied 



130 THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 

i 

their crucifixes, the more have they lost sight of 
the crucified one. Christ must be preached as the 
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the 
first and the last; as a Saviour in all respects 
complete, the one and only name under heaven 
whereby men must be saved, our u wisdom, and 
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption/' 
And wherever he is thus preached, glorious signs 
will be seen to follow. The heart that can be 
reached by no other influence will be reached by 
this. 

2. How malignant and desperate must be that de- 
pravity zvhich can resist the attractions of the cross. 
I say resist; for powerful as may be those attrac- 
tions, they may still be resisted. The influence 
which they exert, is not compulsory, but persua- 
sive. While thousands and tens of thousands have 
been effectually drawn by them, myriads, on the 
other hand, have braced themselves up against their 
power, and forced their way onward to ruin. " Ye 
do always," said Stephen to the Jews, " resist the 
Holy Ghost." "The things of Jesus" had been 
presented to them; conviction fastened itself upon 
their consciences, but their proud hearts disdained 
the thought of looking for pardon to one, whom 
with wicked hands they had crucified and slain. 
Just so it is now. Many of my dear hearers, we 
fear, are doing precisely what men did centuries 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 131 

ago. You have felt the power of the cross. There 
is not a heart in this assembly that has not felt it ; 
and long, long ago, would it have melted you to 
penitence and love, had not its benevolent design 
been defeated by your own perverseness. Calcu- 
lated and designed as the cross is to draw all men 
to God, let us not imagine that such is its actual 
influence. The attractions of the cross may be 
felt by all, and yet upon the hearts of multitudes 
the world may exert a preponderating influence. 
The sun is amply sufficient to shed light upon all, 
and yet some may choose to enshroud themselves 
in darkness. A feast may be sufficient for all, and 
yet many who are invited to it, may beg to be 
excused. Our text " has unquestionable reference 
to the fulfillment of prophecy, respecting the ulti- 
mate truimph of the cross. Just as if it should be 
said, that a victorious king will surely succeed in 
subduing a whole nation of rebels, although many 
of the incorrigible would perish in the struggle." 

The salvation of the gospel, designed for all, and 
offered to all, may be rejected ; and of all sins of 
which man may be guilty, this is marked with the 
deepest aggravations. Think of the light which it 
resists — think of the love which it abuses — think 
of the obligations which it violates. Oh, where, 
in God's universe, can there be a crime like this ! 
What kind of depravity must that be which can 



132 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS, 



hold out against the pleadings of infinite mercy, 
the tears, the groans, the agony of a beseeching 
Saviour ? Men may often be subdued by kind- 
ness, when they can be subdued by no other in- 
fluence : but the sinner will neither be melted by 
kindness, nor awed by terror. While he braves 
the vengeance of Sinai, the scenes of Calvary ex- 
cite only his idle gaze, if not his impious con- 
tempt. Oh, how deeply has man apostatized from 
God! 

3. Those who resist the power of the cross mud 
perish, and perish, too, under circumstances of peculiar 
aggravation. What possible hope can there be in 
their case ? With what more powerful motives 
could they be plied? The motives of the gospel 
appeal to every principle of our nature — to our 
sense of right, to our gratitude, to our fears, and 
to our hopes. If the heart is not melted by the 
love of Jesus, what can melt it ? What other in- 
fluence can be brought to bear upon it ? What 
further means shall God employ to win it ? Divine 
power seems at a loss what more to do. " 0 ! 
Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee ? 0 ! Judah, 
what shall I do unto thee V 

Surely, my hearer, vou have reason to be 
alarmed at yourself. The most powerful means 
that God can employ to save you, have all been 
employed in vain. No other Saviour will ever be 



THE ATTRACTIONS OF THE CROSS. 



133 



revealed — no richer blood will ever be shed — no 
higher display of divine compassion will ever be 
made — no other redemption will ever be offered. 
What, then, remains but a " certain, fearful look- 
ing-for of judgment, and fiery indignation !" And, 
oh, to perish beneath the cross — what a perdition! 
—to go from all the light, and love, and glory of Cal- 
vary, down to the chambers of eternal gloom, and 
anguish, and despair. What groans will be like 
those extorted from those who perish under these 
circumstances ! What tears like those that are 
shed in remembrance of redemption once offered 
and spurned ! 0 ! my hearer, will you thus perish ? 
Will you rush on to perdition with the painful con- 
sciousness that you might have been saved, and 
would not? Will you bring upon yourself that 
H sorer punishment' 7 which awaits those who have 
trodden under foot the Son of God, accounted the 
blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified 
an unholy thing, and have done despite to the 
spirit of grace ? Can nothing more be done to save 
you? Must we give you up in despair? Oh, 
that you would fix your eye upon that cross. Be- 
hold there your only help — hold out no longer — 
sink at the feet of your injured, neglected Saviour, 
and there weep, adore, and live forever. 



12 



SERMON VII. 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO S A YE. 

Mighty to save, — Isaiah lxiii. 1. 

The bare announcement of these words, will, at 
once suggest the distinguished personage to whom 
they refer. The passage is connected with a pre- 
diction relative to the triumph of the Son of God. 
As a mighty conqueror, he is represented as re- 
turning from the field of conflict, covered with the 
blood of his enemies, and also as the successful 
deliverer of his own people. ••'Who is this," asks the 
prophet, " that cometh from Edom, with dyed gar- 
ments, from Bozrah ? this that is glorious in his 
apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength f? 
Bozrah was the chief city of Edom, and the Edom- 
ites were the avowed enemies of Israel. Here 
they are referred to as a type or representation of 
all those anti-Christian powers, or opposers of 
Christ and his cause, who are destined to signal 
and fearful overthrow. 

In answer to the question, the Messiah is repre- 
sented as saying, " I that speak in righteousness, 
mighty to save" — righteous in giving sentence 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 135 

against his foes, and mighty in bringing salvation 
to his church. 

Again, the prophet inquires, "Wherefore art 
thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like 
him that treadeth in the wine fat ?" To which the 
Messiah responds : " I have trodden the wine-press 
alone, and of the people there was none with me ; 
for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample 
them in my fury ; and their blood shall be sprinkled 
upon my garments, and I will stain all my rai- 
ments. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, 
and the year of my redeemed is come." Thus will 
the glorious conqueror eventually crush all his ob- 
stinate foes, and appear for the deliverance of his 
oppressed and afflicted people. 

The special object of our present discourse will 
be to consider the ability of Christ as a Saviour. 

Nothing is more evident than that man needs a 
Saviour. Fallen from his original estate of purity 
and happiness ; doomed by heaven s violated law 
to everlasting chains of darkness ; enslaved to sin, 
to the world, and to Satan, and utterly unable to 
recover himself from his deep and ruinous apos- 
tacy, help must come from some other source, or 
his perdition is certain and unavoidable. Who, 
then 3 will become our Redeemer? Who will 
satisfy for us the demands of insulted justice, 
and meet the claims of a violated law ? Who will 
pay down the price for our ransom, break off oar 



136 THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



fetters of iniquity, and restore us to the forfeited 
friendship and favor of heaven? To these mo- 
mentous inquiries earth maintains a profound si- 
lence. Among all the sons of men, not one can 
be found competent to save. Among all the ranks 
of created intelligences around the throne, not an 
individual can step forward and say, "/will ransom 
them from the power of the grave ; /will redeem 
them from death. 0! death, /will be thy pla- 
gues; 0! grave, / will be thy destruction." But 
— hark ! what voice is that which falls upon our 
ear in such tones of pathos and tendernes ? " De- 
liver him from going down to the pit ; /have found 
a ransom." When no human arm could effect our 
deliverance ; when all angelic sympathy and power 
were unavailing, Jesus offers himself as our sub- 
stitute and Redeemer. Is he, then, competent to 
the task he has undertaken? Can we repose in 
him with confidence ? May we, without any fear 
of disappointment, venture our immortal interests 
in his hands, assured of his succor and protection? 

In our text, he proclaims himself as " mighty to 
save;' and in order to establish this claim, 

I. Consider in the first place the infinite dignity 
of his person. 

Man needs an almighty Saviour. What but 
Omnipotence can subdue the strength of human 
depravity, protect us from the assaults of our nu- 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 187 

merous foes, sustain us under the conflicts and 
trials of our faith, restore our bodies from the 
tomb, and conduct us in safety to the kingdom of 
eternal rest ? The same power that created us, 
must redeem us ; the same being against whom 
we have sinned, must extend to us forgive- 
ness. Whatever others may think of this matter, 
I am sure that among all who have any acquaint- 
ance with their real wants as fallen beings, there 
can be but one sentiment. What Christian, con- 
scious of his weakness and dependence, would 
trust to any other than an Almighty arm ? What 
Christian would commit his undying spirit to a 
mere creature ? What Christian would depend on 
a mere creature for pardon, for holiness, for guid- 
ance, and for ultimate triumph over his spiritual 
foes ? The supreme Deity of Christ is so insepar- 
ably connected with the Christian's own expe- 
rience, that he has the witness of this truth in 
himself. Rob the Saviour of his Divinity, and 
you at once rob us of all our hope. 

" Some take him a creature to be, 

A man or an angel at most ; 
Sure these have no feelings like me, 

Nor know themselves wretched and lost. 
So guilty, so helpless am I, 

I could not confide in his word, 
Unless I could make the reply, 

That Christ is 'my Lord and my God.' " 

12* 



138 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



"Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of 
the earth, for I am God, and there is none else." 
" Our Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel." Here 
rests our confidence. Jesus is divine no less than 
human — the mighty God— God over all, blessed 
for evermore — the Alpha and Omega — the begin- 
ning and the ending — the Almighty. All things 
were made by Him, and he uphoideth all things 
by the word of his power. 

Though he made his appearance as a helpless 
babe, and as a man of sorrows, the evidences of his 
divine majesty and power would at times beam forth 
with transcendent lustre. The winds and the waves 
were obedient to his mandate. At his word, dis- 
eases were healed, devils were dispossessed, and 
the dead brought to life. To the leper he said, 
"I will, be thou clean, and immediately his leprosy 
was cleansed." To the paralytic he said — " Stretch 
forth thy hand," and the hand was nerved with 
new energy. To the blind he said — "Receive 
thy sight," and behold they see. All this is but 
an illustration of his power over the mind and 
heart. He who created the world can create the 
soul anew. He who commanded the light to shine 
out of darkness, can shine into our benighted hearts. 
He who calmed the raging billows, can say to our 
turbulent passions, "Peace, be still." He who ex- 
pelled demons can effectually bruise the serpent's 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 139 

head. He who cleansed the leper can cleanse us 
from our moral defilement. He who called the 
dead to life can quicken us, even though dead in 
trespasses and in sins. 

II. As another evidence of Christ's ability to 
save, we refer, in the second place, to the all-suffi- 
ciency of his atonement. 

Man is saved, not merely by an exertion of 
divine power, but by the payment of an adequate 
price. " Without shedding of blood there is no 
remission." The atonement is an expedient to 
secure the sinner from merited punishment in con- 
sistency with the honor of the divine government. 
We need a Saviour who can procure our release 
from the penalty of the violated law, and yet ex- 
hibit that law as righteous and immutable— a 
Saviour who, while he pardons sin, yet proclaims 
it in all its turpitude — a Saviour who, while he 
removes all obstructions to the free communica- 
tion of divine mercy, still declares that God is 
holy and just. Such a Saviour is Jesus. Instead 
of abrogating the law, he fulfilled and honored it. 
Instead of representing sin as a trifle, he proclaimed 
it to be that abominable thing which God hates. 
In him mercy and truth met together, righteous- 
ness and peace kissed each other. " Him hath 
God set forth to be a propitiation, that he might 



140 THS ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE, 

be just, and the justifier of him that believeth." 
The sacrifice which he made on the cross answers 
all the ends of the actual infliction of the penalty 
upon the transgressor. He has thus become " the 
end of the law for righteousness to every one that 
believeth." He who knew no sin, was made sin 
for us, that we might be made the righteousness 
of God in him. " He bore our sins in his own 
body on the tree — bore our griefs and carried our 
sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions 
and bruised for our iniquities, and by his stripes 
we are healed." His one offering constituted a 
complete and effective propitiation. On the part 
of God, every obstacle to the sinner's salvation is 
now removed. He can pardon without any dis- 
paragement either to his holy character or law. 
The eternal throne, we are now assured, rests 
upon an immovable basis, while mercy, bleeding 
mercy, in all her attractions, stands ready to em- 
brace the returning wanderer and assure him of a 
free and full acquittal. 

The completeness and all-sufficiency of the 
Saviour s atonement rests upon the exalted dig- 
nity of his person. It was this that gave to his 
sufferings, though endured only for a limited pe- 
riod, such transcendent value and efficacy. The 
law demanded a satisfaction proportioned to the 
magnitude of the offence. The offence was infi- 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 141 

nite ; the satisfaction must be infinite too. This 
satisfaction it was utterly beyond the power of 
any creature to make. Even the most exalted 
angel could not, by his sufferings, have afforded 
any adequate expression of Heaven's deep abhor- 
rence of sin, and vindicated the majesty and honor 
of the broken law. This great end can be secured 
only by the sacrifice of the Son of God. The in- 
carnate Deity must expire in agony on the cross. 
Thus the ransom was paid down — the breach was 
repaired — Heaven is rendered propitious — the 
guilty may be pardoned, and these fallen natures 
restored to purity and bliss. Oh, wondrous scheme ! 
In all the universe there is nothing like it. It 
stands out before men and angels as the wonder 
of wonders. Precious sacrifice! Oh, for an angel's 
voice to proclaim its worth ! "By one offering he 
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." 
Oh, thou who didst command the light to shine 
out of darkness, shine into our hearts, that we 
may behold thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ. 

III. The ability of Christ to save is also based 
upon the efficacy of his intercession. Hence, says 
the Apostle, "He is able to save them to the utter- 
most, that come unto God by him, seeing he 
ever liveth to make intercession for them." To 
intercede is to petition in behalf of another. As 



1 142 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



sinners we need an intercessor with God. His 
infinite majesty and purity forbid our approach to 
him without a mediator. Who will undertake to 
plead his own cause ? What can we say either 
in justification or palliation of our guilt ? On the 
ground of personal merit the whole world must 
stand convicted and condemned before God. But, 
says John, " if any man sin we have an advocate 
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.'' 
"Who is he," says Paul, "that condemneth? It 
is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, 
who is even at the right hand of God, who also 
maketh intercession for us." " If, when we were 
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death 
of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall 
be saved by his life." The death of Christ pro- 
cured our redemption ; his intercessory life secures 
to us the benefits of that redemption. Our great 
High Priest, having offered himself "once for all," 
then entered into the holy of holies, there to ap- 
pear before God for us. There, as the lamb that 
was slain, he presents his wounds, urges his merits, 
and pleads the cause of all who confide in him. 
Nor does he plead in vain. " Him the Father 
heareth always." It is through his intercession 
that believers obtain every needed favor. Their 
persons and services are accepted for his sake. 
Their prayers become available only by virtue of 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 143 

the plea of their great advocate. "Whatsoever ye 
shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do, 
that the Father may be glorified in the Son." "I 
will pray the Father, and he shall give you another 
comforter, that he may abide with you forever." 
" It often happens, among men, that the most 
urgent petitions, the most touching appeals on be- 
half of the oppressed, the wretched and the needy, 
are permitted to remain disregarded and unheard, 
But not one request of our Divine Advocate can 
possibly share this fate." — Symington. " Thou 
hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not 
withholden the request of his lips." Ps. xxi. 2, 
During the days of his flesh, we are informed that 
he " offered up prayers and supplications, with 
strong crying and tears, and was heard in that he 
feared." Who, then, can doubt the prevalence of 
his intercession, when before the mercy seat, in 
the upper temple, he pleads the merits of his 
atoning blood ? His plea is enforced by an argu- 
ment that must prove effectual. " He asks nothing 
for which he has not paid the full price of his pre- 
cious blood." He asks nothing but what is in 
accordance with his Father's will, and what has 
been actually pledged to him in the eternal cove- 
nant of redemption. 

A poor woman, who had travelled many weaiy 
miles on foot, day and night, once presented her- 



144 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



self before the Governor of Georgia, informing 
him that she was the mother of a man who was 
to be executed four days hence, and that she 
had come with all possible speed from another 
State to beg a respite of his sentence. The Go- 
vernor told her it was too late, that even should 
he grant the respite she could not possibly con- 
vey it to the condemned man, in her exhausted 
state, in time to save him. " Only give me the 
respite," she said, "and it shall reach him in 
time. I shall see him anyhow before he dies, 
but I have no time to lose." " Madam/' said 
the Governor, " I most deeply sympathize w T ith 
you, and it pains me to tell you that I should 
violate my official duty to grant the respite. I 
have examined the case, and cannot find a single 
mitigating circumstance in it in your son's favor." 
"0, Governor," she passionately exclaimed, " my 
son is not a murderer at heart. His disposition 
was peaceable ; he was not himself when he com- 
mitted the deed. 0, Governor ! here on my knees 
before you I pray you have pity upon a poor heart- 
broken widowed mother!" The spectators of this 
trying scene sobbed aloud, as the chief magistrate 
with tears lifted the poor suppliant from her knees, 
and repeated, by a shake of the head, what he 
had already said. The mother gave an indescriba- 
bly agonizing groan, and arose from her knees to 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 145 

depart ; but as her foot fell upon the step that was 
to conduct her away from the habitation of hope, 
she cast a melting look, and commenced her last 
appeal with "0, Governor! for God's sake/' — 
when she fell to the floor exhausted by her emo- 
tions. At length, rising as if moved by the thought 
that she was losing the precious moments which 
would enable her to see her son alive, she departed, 
bearing the sad tidings that her touching interces- 
sion had been of no avail. 

Let us rejoice that we have an intercessor whose 
love and sympathies are not only tenderer than 
those of the fondest earthly parent, but who will 
never plead in vain for our pardon when we com- 
mit our cause to his hands. 

IV. The power of Christ to save will further 
appear, from the fact that he saves in the most des- 
perate cases. 

The salvation of any sinner, even of the least, is 
an act of amazing power and grace ; but as the skill 
of a physician is most clearly evinced in the recovery 
of those whose diseases are the most inveterate and 
dangerous, so the ability of Christ, as a Saviour, 
is most strikingly illustrated in rescuing those who 
are nearest to the pit of destruction, and farthest 
from the hope of the Gospel. In offering himself 
to us as a Saviour, he makes no exceptions to the 

13 



146 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



cases of airy, however malignant their depravity, 
or enormous their crimes. "Him that cometh 
unto me/' he says, " I will in no wise cast out." 
Among the thousands who have ventured their 
souls upon him, not one has been repulsed and 
disappointed. No case, however obstinate, is be- 
yond his skill. He can pardon the most guilty ; 
he can cleanse the vilest of the vile. His grace 
abounded even in the salvation of his persecutors 
and murderers. Hear the testimony of one, once 
the most bitter enemy of the cross. " This is a 
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
Christ Jesus came into the w r orld to save sinners, 
of whom I am chief." Were we permitted to have 
a view of the glorified throng in heaven, we might, 
doubtless, behold among u the great multitude," 
numbers whose sins were of the very deepest dye, 
and whose condition was apparently the most 
hopeless ; but the blood of atonement availed even 
for them. Their robes, once covered with defile- 
ment, now shine with the lustre of the noon-day 
sun. From the lowest depths of corruption and 
ruin, they have been exalted to seats of unspeak- 
able honor and felicity. Oh, what cannot a Sa- 
viour's grace accomplish ! What guilty creature 
may not look up with confidence and hope ? " The 
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." 
Is there one present who is ready to regard him- 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



147 



self as a sinner above all other sinners — one whose 
sins prove like a burden too heavy to be borne ? 
It is to you, especially, I would turn with the 
gracious assurance that there is forgiveness with 
God, that he may be feared. Yes, if there be in 
this house one of those whom Whitefield used to 
call "the devil's castaways/' desperate as your 
condition may appear to human view — to your 
own view— you may yet become a trophy of that 
very grace which you have so long and so obsti- 
nately spurned. Christ " came not to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance." Our busi- 
ness, as the heralds of his grace, is with sinners — 
sinners indiscriminately. It may be that you 
have sinned with a high hand and an outstretched 
arm. Your sins not only exceed all computation, 
but are also of a crimson dye. You have sinned 
against distinguished light, the most tender com- 
passion, and the most solemn warnings. In oppo- 
sition to all the calls of God's word, his providence 
and Spirit, you have gone on in a course of im- 
penitence, treasuring up wrath against the day of 
wrath. Alarming, however, as your condition is, 
we dare not abandon you to ruin. At the very 
mouth of the pit, the voice of long insulted Good- 
ness yet speaks, and the cross of a dying Saviour 
yet appears in view. Oh, that you may catch the 
sound, and fix your wandering eye upon the bleed- 



148 THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



ing victim. " Behold the Lamb of God that taketh 
away the sin of the world." Behold just such a 
Saviour as your exigency demands — the mighty 
God, ready to pardon, omnipotent to save. Perish 
not when help is so nigh. See ! he stretches out 
his arm for your rescue. Turn not away from the 
kind deliverer. Plunge not yourself into irre- 
coverable ruin. 

V. In further illustration of the Saviours power 
to save, contemplate now the completeness of his 
salvation. Whom he saves, he saves to the utter- 
most — saves not in part but completely and for- 
ever. The work that he commences, he carries 
forward and consummates. When he pardons a 
sinner, he pardons him fully. His sins are cast 
into the depths of the sea, there to be buried in 
eternal oblivion. Never more shall he come under 
condemnation — never more shall the second death 
have any power over him. The divine promise 
stands pledged for his security. Heaven and 
earth may fail, but the word and the grace of 
God abide forever. And whom Christ pardons 
he also sanctifies. Gradual and slow as may ap- 
pear the process, the ultimate accomplishment of 
the work is certain. " We shall be like him, for 
we shall see him as he is." His Church shall be 
presented before him, " without spot or wrinkle. 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 149 

or any such thing." There is no temptation to 
which his people are exposed in which he cannot 
succor them ; no trial in which he cannot sustain 
them ; no perplexity in which he cannot extricate 
them ; no foe from whom he cannot deliver them. 
Even the last enemy, Death, shall be vanquished, 
and we shall come off more than conquerors, 
through him that loved us. All that w r e lost in 
Adam shall be more than restored in Christ. He 
came that we might have life even " more abun- 
dantly." Our entire nature will ere long be re- 
stored. Even corruption shall put on incorruption, 
and mortality shall put on immortality, " fashioned 
like unto Christ's glorious body, according to the 
working whereby he is able even to subdue all 
things unto himself." Oh, what a Saviour is Jesus ! 
u mighty to save" — mighty to deliver, to defend, 
to protect, to guide and to console — mighty to 
bring every thought into captivity to himself — 
mighty to sustain us in the last conflict— mighty 
to burst the bands of death, and raise these vile 
bodies from the tomb, clothed with immortal vigor 
and unfading beauty — mighty to conduct us up 
with joy into his Father's presence, and make us 
kings and priests unto our God forever. 

VI. Reflect, now, on the vast number ivhom 
Christ saves — not only sinners of every grade of 

13* 



150 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



depravity, but of every rank, condition, and na- 
tion. What numbers have already been redeemed. 
The favored John beheld in heaven " a great mul- 
titude, which no man could number, of all nations, 
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, clothed 
with white robes, and with palms in their hands." 

Ever since the gracious promise was given, that 
the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's 
head, the work of redeeming mercy has been 
gradually going forward, rescuing one after an- 
other from the dominion of sin, and restoring them 
to holiness and bliss. From that memorable pe- 
riod when the light of hope first beamed upon our 
ruined world, the Son of God has been gathering 
in a chosen people to his kingdom. What myriads, 
even amid the dim light of a typical dispensation, 
looked to him as their great propitiation, and re- 
joiced in him as all their hope and salvation. What 
countless thousands flocked to him when his Gos- 
pel was attended with such signal triumphs in the 
early days of its propagation. The Son of God, 
like a mighty prince, has gone forth conquering 
and to conquer." New accessions have been con- 
tinually made to the ranks of the redeemed, and 
new songs of rejoicing and praise have burst from 
the lips of sinners rescued by his power and grace. 
Even in the most degenerate times, witnesses have 
been raised up for the truth, and " martyrs have 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



151 



bled in sufficient numbers to make a nation." The 
Son of God is still urging forward his conquests. 
The virtue of his blood, and the efficacy of his 
intercession, remain the same in all ages. Soon 
his dominion shall become universal, extending 
from the rivers to the ends of the earth. His 
sons shall come from afar, and his daughters from 
the ends of the earth. The Lord shall make bare 
his arm among all nations, and all flesh shall see 
the salvation of our God. Divine influences shall 
descend, not merely like the gentle dew, but like 
the copious shoiver— the w T ord of God shall have 
" free course," nations shall be u born at once," 
and bow in sweet submission to the mighty con- 
queror ; J ews and Gentiles, bond and free, shall 
shout his praise, and bring their willing offerings 
at his feet; and when, at last, he comes to gather 
his ransomed people home, they shall come from 
the East and the West, from the North and the 
South, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 

It is a great work to save a single sinner ; what 
then must it be to save such unnumbered millions ? 
And yet there is virtue in Christ, not only to save 
all who trust in him, but to save even those who 
spurn his mercy. They are lost not from any de- 
ficiency in his atonement, but solely on account of 
their unbelief and perverseness. Every sinner who 



152 THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



goes to perdition, goes there with the painful con- 
sciousness that he might have been saved, but that 
he would not. 

REMARKS. 

1. Let this subject inspire the believer with confi- 
dence and joy. The Redeemer in whom you trust 
is mighty to save. " What then, have you to fear ? 
Who shall pluck you out of his hands ? What 
weapon formed against you shall prosper? " The 
eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath thee are 
his everlasting arms." Weak and defenceless as 
you are in yourself, through the grace of your di- 
vine Saviour, you can do all things. Opposed as 
you may be in your progress by earth and hell, if 
he be for you, who can be against you ? Let the 
law thunder its anathemas, let the world frown, 
Satan accuse, and the King of terrors present him- 
self in his most formidable aspect, in the hands of 
such a Saviour you are secure. " Who shall lay 
any thing to the charge of God's elect ? It is God 
that justifieth. Who is he that conclemneth ? It 
is Christ that died." " I know," said the apostle, 
" whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he 
is able to keep that which I have committed unto 
him against that day." " Well, brother," said the 
Rev. Matthew Wilks, to his colleague in the ministry, 
when at the point of death, u I have sometimes 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



153 



heard you say in the pulpit, that if you had a hun- 
dred souls, you could venture them all on Christ ; 
can you say so now." The dying saint, though 
worn nearly to a skeleton, and almost suffocated 
with phlegm, made an effort to speak, and with 
eyes beaming with light and hope, he replied, " A 
million ! a million !" 

Fear not, believer, to trust yourself without re- 
serve, and without wavering to the protection of 
such a Saviour. All that he has promised, he will 
most assuredly perform ; your hope rests upon a 
basis that is immovable ; not upon the sand, but 
upon the eternal rock. He who has already be- 
come to you wisdom, and righteousness, and sanc- 
tification, will ere long become to you complete 
and eternal redemption. 

2. What abundant encouragement is here afforded 
for sinners to look to Christ. To whom else can 
you look ? In w T hat name but his can you come be- 
fore the throne of heaven ? Whose righteousness 
but his can screen you in the day of wrath? 
Whose blood but his can wash away your stain, 
and heal your wounded spirit? Whose arm 
but his can conduct you in safety through this 
world of temptation and sin, and guard you 
through the dark and lonely vale ? Will you at- 
tempt to save yourself ? Will you look for salva- 
tion to any created power ? Why so reluctant to 



154 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 



confide in Jesus ? Do you fear he will disappoint 
you ? Can you question his ability ? Can you 
distrust his willingness ? Is he not as infinite in 
love as he is in power ? 

"His heart is made of tenderness, 
His bowels yearn with love." 

It is his business to save. This was the errand 
for which he came into the world. For this he 
was born and lived ; for this he suffered and died ; 
for this he arose in triumph from the tomb, and for 
this he is now exalted at the right hand of the 
Majesty of heaven, " ever living to make interces- 
sion." Oh ! that you would now test his power 
and faithfulness. 

" Venture on him, venture freely, 
Let no other trust intrude. 

Xone but Jesus, 
Can do helpless sinners good.'"' 

3. But let me also remark. How fearful must 
it be to fall under the vengeance of such a Saviour, 
If he is mighty to save, he is also mighty to de- 
stroy. If he can exalt his friends to seats of honor 
and glory, he can also thrust his foes down to the 
lowest hell. The Lamb of God is also " the Lion 
of the tribe of Judah," and woe to those who rouse 
his indignation, and become the victims of his ven- 
geance. " The great day of the wrath of the lamb 



THE ABILITY OF CHRIST TO SAVE. 155 

is come, and who shall be able to stand V " Kiss 
the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the 
way, when his wrath is kindled but a little." 

Why, my dear hearer, will you any longer spurn 
the offer of a blood-bought salvation ! Do you not 
need it ? Are you willing to dispense with it ? 
Can you innocently refuse it ? Why, when it is 
your privilege to be saved, will you eternally per- 
ish? Were no salvation tendered to you, your 
condition would be deplorable indeed ; why, then, 
when it is tendered, why, when it is even pressed 
upon your acceptance, will you still treat it with 
neglect ? Oh ! it is a blot on human nature that 
I must stand here, and plead with you a moment 
to accept the gracious proffer. An immortal being, 
sinking to everlasting burnings, and yet unwilling 
to be saved ! What can I clo more than to beseech 
you not to bolt the door of heaven against your- 
self. In the name of the eternal God, I call upon 
you not to despise the precious blessings of redemp- 
tion. Our hearts yearn over you with the tender- 
est compassion. We know your misery, and would 
rejoice to welcome you to the same hopes and 
felicity which we have experienced. But I have 
done. " If ye will not hear, my soul shall weep 
in secret places for your pride." 



SERMON VIIL 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 
Whosoever will, let hiin take the water of life freely. — Revelation xxii. 17. 

The source from which this invitation comes 
entitles it to our special attention. It is the call 
of divine mercy to a world perishing in sin. The 
blessings of salvation are here, as in numerous 
other places, represented to us under the simili- 
tude of water — living water — pure, refreshing, and 
free. In what language could the volume of divine 
truth have more appropriately closed than with a 
proclamation like this ? The Old Testament, re- 
presentative of the legal economy, closes with the 
language of denunciation ; the New, representative 
of a better covenant, with the language of invita- 
tion. The Son of God having ascended to his seat 
of majesty and glory, and having inspired his ser- 
vants to record the achievements of his mercy, 
now sends forth the announcement that all things 
for the redemption of man are ready, and that who- 
soever will, may partake of the flowing stream, 
and live forever. 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL, 157 

The doctrine of the text is this — Every man 
may be saved, if he be willing. 

This important and animating truth we now pur- 
pose to confirm and apply. 

I. And my first remark is, — God has made 
ample provision far the salvation of the human race. 
Without an atonement for sin, the condition of 
man would have been utterly hopeless. Such an 
atonement was necessary, not to render God mer- 
ciful, but to render the exercise of his mercy con- 
sistent with the claims of justice. Justice to him- 
self, justice to his law, justice to the moral universe, 
demanded that the soul that had sinned should 
die. Better had it been for the whole race of man 
to have perished, than for the throne of Heaven to 
have been dishonored, and the authority of the 
divine law to have been impaired. If the penalty 
does not fall upon the sinner, there must be pro- 
vided for him a substitute — one who will take his 
place, suffer in his stead, and whose sufferings will 
answer all the ends of the literal infliction of the 
penalty. The Son of God has, accordingly, be- 
come " the end of the law for righteousness to 
every one that believeth." " Him hath God set 
forth to be a propitiation — to declare his righteous- 
ness, that he might be just, and the justifier of 
him that believeth in Jesus." On the part of God, 

14 



158 MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 

every obstacle in the way of the sinner's pardon 
is now removed. The penalty of the law may be 
remitted, and yet the government of God fully 
vindicated and honored. The fearful consequences 
of sin may be averted, and yet its malignity and 
desert be presented to the moral universe in an 
aspect the most solemn and impressive. 

And this atonement is made for the world. It 
is a public exhibition of God's feelings towards sin, 
and a proclamation of the immutable righteousness 
and obligation of his law. From its very nature, 
therefore, it must be general. Its value and effi- 
cacy are not to be measured by those who are 
actually saved, but by its intrinsic virtue, and its 
benevolent design. Were millions more redeemed 
than will eventually be found among " the great 
multitude," no atonement more ample would be 
demanded than that which was made by the offer- 
ing of Christ " once for all." u By the grace of 
God he has tasted death for every man." " He is 
the propitiation not for our sins only" — not for the 
sins of believers only— " but for the sins of the 
whole world ;" or, in the language of Calvin, " Christ 
suffered for the sins of the ivhole world, and is 
through the kindness of God indiscriminately of* 
fered to all? The language of the inspired writers 
on this subject is as broad as it can be. They 
speak of the atonement as universal — as designed 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 159 

for the race, without any restriction — for the world 
—for the unjust — for sinners — for the lost — for the 
dead in sin. It is sufficient not only for those who 
receive it and are saved by it, but for those who 
reject it, and who, in consequence of that rejec- 
tion, fall under a heavier condemnation. The fact 
that the divine purpose is limited, by no means 
limits the value of the atonement. The two are 
entirely distinct, and perfectly harmonious. The 
one respects the purchase of redemption ; the other 
its application. God has placed every man under 
a dispensation of mercy. There is no legal im- 
pediment in the way of the salvation of a single 
individual who truly repents and believes the Gos- 
pel. No one will perish because pardon was not 
attainable, but simply because he would not accept 
it. There is no danger that the provisions of the 
Gospel will be exhausted — that more may possibly 
come to the fountain of life than can meet with a 
supply. In Christ there is an infinite and inex- 
haustible fullness- — " enough for each, enough for 
all, enough for evermore." 

II. My second remark in confirmation of our 
position is this, — Salvation is not only provided for 
all, but also offered to all. The universal offer is 
founded upon the universal provision. If the one 
were limited, the other must be limited too. There 



160 MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 

would be a manifest inconsistency in inviting men 
indiscriminately to be saved, were there any defi- 
ciency or limitation in the provision made for 
human salvation — -just the same inconsistency as 
there would be in sending forth a general invita- 
tion to a feast, when there is in fact provision 
made only for a few. The invitations of the Gos- 
pel are extended to men with all sincerity and 
earnestness, and they are as general as they can 
be made. They extend to all nations — to all 
colors and complexions — to all ranks and orders 
of men. Our commission authorizes us to preach 
the Gospel — to proclaim the news of salvation hi 
all the worlds and to every creature. There is not 
a son or daughter of Adam, be they who they may, 
or what they may, to w r hom we are not instructed 
to make the joyful announcement; and if there 
are still human beings to be found to whom it has 
not been made, it must be attributed, not to any 
limitation in the Gospel offer, but entirely to the 
neglect of duty on the part of the Church. Long 
ere this, the sound of salvation should have gone 
forth throughout our entire earth, and there should 
not be a single sinner left to whom is not made 
known the way of pardon and life through a cruci- 
fied Redeemer. 

Let us hear the voice of God as it speaks to us 
from the sacred page. u Ho, every one that thirst- 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IP THEY WILL. 161 

eth ; come ye to the waters." " In the last day, 
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, 
saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me 
and drink," " The Spirit and the bride say, Come ; 
and let him that heareth say, Come. And let him 
that is athirst, Come. And whosoever will, let him 
take the water of life freely." 

Could language be more general and explicit ? 
Suppose you had prepared an ample feast for all 
the poor and destitute in your neighborhood, in 
what language could you more suitably extend a 
general invitation than to send forth the proclama- 
tion, " Whosoever will, let him come and partake 
of the provisions freely." Thus, too, runs our 
commission as ministers to all the famishing and 
dying. "As many as ye shall find, bid to the mar- 
riage." With this commission before me, I feel 
fully justified in calling upon every sinner in this 
assembly, to repair to the feast of mercy. We 
except none. We say to each and to all—" Come, 
for all things are now ready." 

" Come all the world, come sinner thou, 
All things in Christ are ready now." 

III. That sinners maybe saved if they will, is fur- 
ther evident from the fact, that God is sincerely willing 
that men should accept his gracious offer. He means 
just what he says. His language is the language 

14* 



162 MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 

not of mockery, but of sincerity. He invites you 
to be saved, because he desires that you may be 
saved. Why should he tender to you salvation, 
if, after all, he were unwilling that you should ac- 
cept it? His invitations, his commands, his ex- 
postulations, his pleadings, are all expressions of 
his unbounded benevolence — all so many proofs 
that he is " not willing that any should perish, but 
that all should come to repentance." Why call 
upon you to repent, if he does not desire your re- 
pentance ? Why call upon you to believe, if he is 
not willing that you should believe? Why call 
upon you to accept of pardon and life, if he pre- 
fers that you should remain under condemnation 
and perish ? "As I live," saith the Lord God, " I 
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." 
" He will have all men to be saved, and come to 
the knowledge of the truth." "0-! Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem, how often would I, but ye would not." 
" Oh, that there were such a heart in them to fear 
me, and keep my commandments." 

To suppose, then, that God is unwilling to save 
you, is both a denial of his love, and an impeach- 
ment of his veracity. Why has he stretched out 
his arm for your salvation, if he is still reluctant 
that you may be saved ? Why did he not spare 
his own Son, but deliver him up for us all ? What 
means the tragic scene of the cross ? Why those 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 168 

tears — that blood ? What, too, mean the drawings 
of the Holy Spirit? Why does he come to your 
heart, and present to you the things of J esus ? 
" The Spirit and the bride say Come." How often 
have you heard " the still small voice" whispering 
to your inmost soul, " Come to Jesus — come to 
heaven !" Not only has the Spirit awakened in you 
a consciousness of guilt, but kindly pointed you to 
the source of pardon. He has come, not to tor- 
ment you before the time, but to prove to you the 
Sanctifier and Comforter. Every movement of 
that blessed agent upon your heart, proclaims God's 
willingness that you may be saved. Willingness 
did I say ? God is more than willing that you 
may be saved. He cherishes for your salvation, 
the deepest solicitude. He not only invites you 
to be saved ; he urges you to be saved. His calls 
are the most importunate and pressing. He waits 
on you with much long suffering. All the day long 
he stretches forth his hand unto a gainsaying and 
disobedient people, With open arms he stands 
ready to receive you. He will welcome your re- 
turn. He will clasp you to his bosom. He will 
freely pardon all your crimes. He will grant you 
a place in his redeemed family, and will exalt you 
to seats of unspeakable honor and felicity. Oh, 
think not of God as reluctant to save. " He de- 
lighteth in mercy." His heart is fixed on the sal- 



164 MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 

vation of men. You cannot afford his benevolence 
higher gratification than by at once accepting the 
redemption which he has so dearly purchased, and 
which he now so freely offers. 

IV. We remark farther. There is nothing to 
hinder men from accepting the salvation which 
God so sincerely and freely offers, but what arises 
from the indisposition of their own hearts. What 
other hinderance can be conceived to lie in the way ? 
The terms on which salvation is tendered, are the 
most simple and easy — terms which all can under- 
stand, and with which all cun comply, if they are 
so disposed. I know that the Scriptures sometimes 
represent men as under an inability, but it is an 
inability which arises, not from the want of natural 
capacity, but from voluntary depravity. What can 
hinder them from loving God if they are willing ? 
From repenting of sin if they are willing ? From 
coming to Christ if they are willing ? To be will- 
ing to perform your duty is to perform it ; to be 
willing to be saved, is to be saved. " If ye -be 
willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the 
land." " Ye will not," says Jesus, " come to me 
that ye might have life." 

The very fact that God offers you salvation, im- 
plies that in some sense you have the power to 
accept it. To invite a man to a feast when it is 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL* 165 

known that he cannot comply with the invitation, 
is only to aggravate his misery by telling him of a 
privilege of which he cannot avail himself. It is 
admitted that men are dependent on the influence 
of the Spirit — so dependent, that if that influence 
be withdrawn, their doom becomes irreversibly 
fixed. It is a dependence, how r ever, that grows 
entirely out of their perverseness. They need the 
Spirit, not to give them any new mental capacity, 
not to impart to them the faculty that may enable 
them to love God, and obey his commands, but 
simply, to dispose them to do what they were pre- 
viously under obligation to do, and for the neglect 
of which they were wholly criminal and inexcu- 
sable. Every man who is not a Christian, is pre- 
vented from being one, only by his own unwilling- 
ness ; and if he has any just views of his own 
state, he must himself be conscious of the fact. 
He may labor to convince himself, and to convince 
others that there is some other obstacle in his way 
— that he would be a Christian if he could ; but 
after all his attempts at self-justification, he is far 
from being at ease. Conscience still takes the side 
of God, and the secret fear haunts his mind that 
all his refuges may, in the end, prove " refuges of 
lies." He knows that whatever may be the 
strength of his corruptions, he is still acting freely, 
— just as freely in rejecting the offer of salvation? 



166 MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 

as he would were he to accept it. You cannot rid 
yourself of this consciousness of moral freedom 
and responsibility. It will follow you through life 
— it will follow you in death — it will follow you to 
the judgment ; and it will abide with you forever. 
Invent and urge what pleas you may, you still feel 
that your rejection of the Gospel is criminal* and 
that it is criminal only because it is wilful. 

V. I remark once niore, None who comply ivith 
the Saviour s invitation in the text shall be excluded- 
6C Him that cometh unto me/' he says, " I will in 
no wise cast out." And will he falsify his word ? 
Has he promised what he will not fulfill ? Has he 
encouraged expectations only to be disappointed ? 
Why does he invite you to come if he means to 
spurn you from his presence ? Why did he pur- 
chase the water of life for sinners if he is not 
willing that they should partake of it ? Think of 
the sacrifice he made for your redemption ; think 
of the perfection of his atonement ; think of the 
design of his mediation ; think of the benevolence 
of his heart ; think of the tenderness of his invi- 
tations, and of the earnestness of his expostula- 
tions, and then say, Can there remain a single 
doubt of his readiness to welcome all who come 
to him thirsting for the waters of salvation ? What 
penitent has he ever repulsed ? Against what 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 167 

suppliant has he closed his ear? Who has asked 
and not received ? Who has sought and not found? 
Who has knocked to whom it has not been opened ? 
What sinner now in torment can plead that he was 
willing to be saved, but that there was no salvation 
for him ? What sinner on earth can honestly de- 
clare that he applied for the water of life, and that 
it was refused him ? We know that men some- 
times plead that they have made efforts to be 
saved, which have proved wholly unavailing. 
They have imagined that they were entirely will- 
ing to be saved, but that Christ was unwilling to 
receive them. But instead of questioning either 
his benevolence or veracity, let them rather ques- 
tion their own sincerity. The fault was not in 
him, but wholly in themselves. " Ye shall find 
me, if ye shall search for me with all your heart." 

No guilt, however aggravated, no sins, however 
numerous, can constitute any bar to your salvation, 
if you are now willing to accept it on the appointed 
terms. Were your salvation to depend, in any 
degree, on your own goodness and merit, you 
might well despair of it forever ; but the water of 
life is tendered to you freely, "without money and 
without price." The same precious blood that can 
save one sinner, can save another, can save all, 
even the most vile and unworthy. 

Some of you, however, may suppose that your 



168 MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 

salvation may be hindered by some secret purpose 
of God. But if secret, why perplex yourself about 
it ? Leave the volume of the decrees in the hands 
of him u vrho worketh all things after the counsel 
of his own will," and who will, in the end, show 
that u he hath done all things well." " Secret 
things belong unto the Lord our God, but those 
things that are revealed belong unto us. and to our 
children forever/' 

The purposes of God never excluded a single 
soul from salvation. They only render the salva- 
tion of a portion of the human race sure, when 
without those purposes all would perish. The 
election of grace damns none, and it never fails 
to save all who are willing to be saved. The 
doctrine is never introduced in the Scriptures to 
discourage any anxious inquirer, or as throwing 
the least obstacle in the way of his pardon; but 
to magnify the riches of divine grace, and as a 
motive both to humility and diligence. Only 
comply with the terms of the Gospel, and you 
may be as sure of your election as though you 
were permitted to see your name enrolled in the 
Lamb's book of life. There ought to be no more 
difficulty with the purpose of God in reference to 
salvation, than there is in reference to any other 
event. You believe that God has determined the 
events of your life and death ; but do you, there- 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 169 

fore, neglect the use of those means which he has 
appointed for your preservation ? Do you refuse 
to partake of daily food, or, when sick, to receive 
the medicine prescribed by your physician, with 
the plea that, if God has determined you shall die, 
his purpose must be accomplished, no matter what 
precautions you may use to prevent the result? 
And why reason thus in reference to your salva- 
tion ? Are not the means and the end connected 
in the one case as well as in the other ? Does the 
mere fact that, in the divine mind, an event is 
certain, at all interfere either with your freedom 
or duty ? What if we should reject the doctrine 
of foreordination altogether, would there not be 
the same difficulty connected with the divine fore- 
knowledge f It is just as certain that what God 
foreknows will take place, as what he foreordains ; 
and yet who ever thinks of urging God's universal 
knowledge as a reason for neglecting acknowledged 
duty? Your immediate concern, my hearer, is 
not with election, but with repentance. As one 
has significantly remarked, Before you enter the 
university of Predestination, you must first enter 
the grammar school of repentance. It is thus 
only that you will be enabled to " make your call- 
ing and election sure." If you have evidence that 
you have chosen Christ as your Saviour, then have 
you evidence that Christ has chosen you. 

15 



170 MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WtLL. 



REFLECTIONS. 

1. Let this subject excite our admiration of the 
wonderful grace and condescension of God totvards 
si?mers. God has done so much for the salvation 
of every human being, that his eternal happiness 
is now suspended upon an act of his own choice. 
Every man may be saved if he will ; and what 
more could we ask ? When we all deserved to 
perish, is it not a most illustrious display of grace, 
to render the salvation of all even possible ? God 
has left nothing undone to secure the salvation of 
every sinner that could consistently be done. The 
fountain of life is open and accessible. It is 
barred by no decree of heaven, by no limitation in 
the offer, by nothing but man s own voluntary and 
obstinate refusal to come to the invigorating stream. 
Only consent to be saved, and both the promise 
and oath of Gocl render your salvation certain. 
Your business is not to make an atonement. That 
is utterly out of the question. The law of God 
Avould accept nothing of you short of the actual and 
literal infliction of the penalty. Its demands, how- 
ever, have been fully satisfied by Christ, and all 
that is now required on your part, is to acquiesce 
in the wonderful expedient, and accept with thank- 
ful heart the redemption so freely tendered. What 
astonishing grace is this ! What glorious news to 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 171 

a world enveloped in gloom and despair ! Let 
him that is athirst come. Let all who desire to be 
saved, avail themselves of heaven's appointed 
remedy. 

2. How evident it is, from this subject, that if 
men are not saved, they are without the shadow of 
an excuse. There is no obstacle, as we have seen, 
in the way of their salvation, but what exists in 
themselves. On the part of God all things are 
ready. The ransom has been paid down, — an all- 
sufficient atonement has been made ; a free salva- 
tion is offered, and no man who has been truly 
willing to be saved, saved on the terms of the gos- 
pel, has met with repulse and disappointment. If 
men, then, are not saved, w r here lies the fault? 
Who is it that excludes them from pardon, that 
keeps them from the overflowing fountain of mercy, 
and that finally bars against them the door of 
heaven ? Who, but themselves, their guilty selves. 
What, but " an evil heart of unbelief," — what, but 
their voluntary and persevering rejection of the 
offer of the gospel, can prevent their salvation ? 
And can this be urged as an excuse? Does Gocl 
regard it as such ? Does conscience regard it as 
such ? What if men were to make the same plea 
in other cases ? Here, for example, is a man who 
owes you $100. Payment is demanded, and he 
has it in his power at once to meet the claim. The 



172 MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 

money is in his pocket, and nothing but his dis- 
honesty hinders him from cancelling the debt. Do 
you consider his indisposition to pay you the money, 
an excuse for withholding it ? Your child has 
been guilty of an act of disobedience. You expostu- 
late with him, and endeavor to produce in him a spirit 
of submission and penitence. All your remon- 
strances, however, prove ineffectual. He will not 
yield. He despises all your counsel, and will none 
of your reproof. Does the perverseness of that 
child release him from obligation, or in any measure 
diminish his guilt ? How, then, is it that men dare 
urge their voluntary rejecting of Christ — their deter- 
mined hostility to his claims, as any kind of apology 
before God ? What is this but the very essence 
of their criminality, the very ground of their con- 
demnation ? What infinite folly and wickedness 
to urge that as an excuse which should produce in 
you only humiliation. How different will this 
matter present itself should you ever be brought 
to repentance. With what tears of contrition will 
you then condemn what you now labor to justify. 
Then instead of casting reflections upon God, you 
will take shame and confusion to yourself. Then 
instead of vindicating yourself, it will be your de- 
light to ascribe righteousness to your Maker. 

3. How litter will be the reflections of thorn 
who are finally lost. You will have none to blame 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 173 

for your perdition but yourself. Memory will 
portray before you the scenes of your past and 
wasted probation. It will bring to your view the 
blood that was once shed for your redemption, the 
repeated offers of mercy that were pressed upon 
your acceptance ; the strivings of the Holy Spirit, 
the pleadings of faithful ministers ; the entreaties 
of Christian friends, and all those kind and graci- 
ous influences that were once exerted to draw you 
to Christ and heaven. And while you will reflect 
on the various means that were employed for your 
salvation, you will also reflect on that perverseness 
which rendered all those means so utterly unavail- 
ing. You will think of your thoughtless inatten- 
tion ; your studied efforts to resist the truth, and 
oppose the designs of mercy ; your unmeaning and 
criminal excuses, and your continued abuse of that 
patience which waited upon you during so many 
long years of sin and impenitence. How 7 torturing 
will be the emotions which such reflections must 
awaken. You will feel that you have ruined your- 
self, that your own hand has perpetrated the horrid 
deed. You will know that you are lost, not be- 
cause you could not have been saved, but solely 
because you rejected the counsel of mercy against 
your own salvation. Oh ! what would you now 
give were you favored with one more offer of salva- 
tion, were the waters of life once more accessible ! 

15* 



174 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 



But the precious opportunity is now gone, and gone 
forever. Oh ! how dreadful to perish under such 
circumstances, to perish when you might have been 
saved. 

" In utter darkness, far 
Kemote, I beings saw, forlorn in woe, 
Burning continually, yet uneonsunied, 
And there were groans that ended not, and sighs 
That always sighed, and tears that ever wept, 
And ever fell, but not in mercy's sight ; 
And still I heard these wretched beings curse 
Almighty God, and curse the Lamb, and curse 
The earth, the resurrection morn, and seek, 
And ever vainly seek, for utter death ; 
And from above the thunders answered still, 
* Ye knew your duty, hut ye did it not.'" 

My dear hearer, let me once more proclaim to 
you the message of mercy. " Whosoever will, let 
him take the water of life freely." Will you accept 
the gracious offer ? Will you consent to be saved ? 
Can it be possible that there is any occasion to 
propose such a question ? Consent to be saved ? 
Who can refuse to be saved ? The only question 
with man, it might be supposed, would be, Is sal- 
vation attainable ? but no, — that is not the question 
now. You may be saved, but mil you ? What ! 
not saved ? Is there nothing in salvation desira- 
able ? nothing in pardon, peace, and holiness de- 
sirable ? nothing in an eternal w r eight of glory de- 
sirable ? If not, then let me ask, is there any 



MEN MAY BE SAVED IF THEY WILL. 175 

thing in sin desirable? any thing in eternal re- 
morse, quenchless fire, undying agony desirable ? 
My dear hearer, I repeat the question, Will you 
be saved ? Will you come to the fountain of life ? 
Will you drink of the stream that flows from the 
throne of God and of the Lamb ? Will you taste 
the preciousness of redeeming love ? shall the 
cravings of that restless spirit now be satisfied ? 
shall that aching void within you now be filled ? 

4 'Why will you be starving and feeding on air ? 
There's mercy in J esus, enough and to spare. 
If still you are doubting, make trial and see, 
And prove that his mercy is boundless and free." 



SERMON IX. 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER, OR PROUD MAN 
REJECTING A FREE SALVATION. 

Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters 
of Israel ? May I not wash in them, and be clean ? So he turned 
and went away in a rage. — 2 Kings v. 12. 

There is no situation in life, however elevated 
and prosperous, that can secure us from the visi- 
tations of adversity. The rich and the renowed 
are as liable to the infirmities and diseases inci- 
dent to mortality as the poor and the despised. 

How strikingly is this exemplified in the case 
of Naaman, the distinguished character referred to 
in our text. Notwithstanding his exalted rank 
and military achievements, he was visited with 
one of the sorest calamities that can afflict our 
race. " Now Naaman, captain of the host of the 
king of Syria, was a great man with his master, 
and honourable, because by him the Lord had 
given deliverance unto Syria; he was also a 
mighty man in valour, but he was a leper." 

The providence of God had so ordered that the 
Syrians had carried captive from the land of Israel 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



177 



a young female, who was employed to wait on 
Naaman' s wife. Enslaved as she was in a strange 
country, she would no doubt often revert to her 
kindred from whom she had been torn, and the 
distinguished religious privileges which she had 
once enjoyed. For the recovery of Naaman she 
seems to have felt a particular solicitude, and hav- 
ing heard of the piety and miracles of the prophet 
Elisha, she was earnestly desirous that applica- 
tion might be made to him for her master's re- 
covery. " Would God, my lord were with the 
prophet that is in Samaria ! for he would recover 
him of his leprosy." This report respecting the 
prophet having reached Naaman, he resolved to 
avail himself of the information without delay. 
The king of Syria kindly interested himself in 
the case, and addressed a letter to Jehoram, king 
of Israel, interceding in behalf of Naaman. 

With ten talents of silver and six thousand pieces 
of gold and ten changes of raiment, he proceeded in 
great state to the king of Israel, who, when he read 
the letter, construed the request of the king of Syria 
into blasphemy, and regarded it as a mere pretence 
for provoking a war. Rending his clothes he said, 
"Am I a God, to kill and to make alive, that this 
man doth send unto me to recover a man of his 
leprosy ? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and 
see how he seeketh a quarrel against me." 



178 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



The perplexity and rage of Jehoram having 
been reported to Elisha, he requested that Naaman 
might be sent to him. in order that it might be 
known among the idolatrous Syrians that there 
was a prophet in Israel, and that Jehovah, unlike 
the gods of the nations, was abundantly able to 
heal when all other resources had failed. Having 
arrived at the prophet's door with his presents, 
instead of meeting with the attention to which he 
supposed his rank entitled him, he was simply 
directed to go and wash in Jordan seven times, 
with the assurance that he should be clean. At 
this, Naaman, we are told, " was wroth, and w^ent 
away and said, Behold, I thought he will surely 
come out to me, and stand and call on the name 
of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the 
place and recover the leper. Are not Abana and 
Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the 
waters of Israel ? May I not wash in them and 
be clean?" 

We have here a most striking illustration of the 
opposition of man to the gospel method of salva- 
tion. Convinced of sin, he inquires, What must I 
do to be saved ? In accordance with their com- 
mission, the messengers of God direct the sinner to 
the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. 
But instead of complying with the requisition, he 
turns away disappointed, and perhaps manifests 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



179 



no small degree of displeasure, not only against 
the conditions of salvation, but also against those 
who have the faithfulness to enforce them. 

I. Let us now endeavor to ascertain the reasons 
which induced Naaman to take offence at the di- 
rection of the prophet, and in them behold the 
causes that lead men, at the present day, to reject 
the offer of salvation through the atoning blood of 
a Saviour. 

1. The directions of the prophet were mortify- 
ing to Naaman s pride. 

The honorable man came with a view of pur- 
chasing a cure, whereas he is treated as a mere 
pensioner. He came expecting great personal at- 
tention, but the prophet, instead of appearing him- 
self, simply sends a message to him by a servant. 
He came expecting that his recovery would be 
effected by some splendid miracle and imposing 
ceremony, but he is told only to wash in Jordan 
seven times, and be healed. 

The evident design and tendency of Elisha's 
directions were to humble the proud man s heart. 
It w r as this that provoked his wrath. He viewed 
himself as treated with neglect and insult. Desi- 
rous as he was to be healed, it must be effected in 
a way that accorded with his superior rank and 
station. 



180 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



What a striking illustration have we here of 
man s opposition to the grace of the gospel. The 
terms on which God offers salvation to sinners, 
while they are highly honorable to himself, tend 
to produce in them the deepest humiliation. So 
far from encouraging those flattering views which 
are commonly entertained of human nature, they 
exhibit it as utterly vile and loathsome. So far 
from acknowledging any merit on the part of the 
sinner, they represent his very best deeds as deeds 
of sin, and declare him justly condemned to eter- 
nal death. So far from accepting any price or 
equivalent for salvation, they offer it to him as the 
purchase of a Saviour's blood, without money and 
without price. Instead of coming to God as a 
claimant, he must come as a suppliant; and if saved, 
his salvation, from the beginning to the end, must 
be ascribed, not to himself, but to sovereign grace 
alone. 

No man will consent to be saved on such terms 
until he is brought to the very dust of humilia- 
tion. The lofty notions which he once entertained 
of his own goodness and merit, must give w r ay to 
deep conviction of guilt and uirsvorthiness. Re- 
nouncing all dependence on himself, he must look 
to Christ as his sole deliverer, pleading for mercy 
alone through his all-perfect righteousness. " The 
loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



181 



haughtiness of man shall be made low ; and the 
Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." 

Here is the grand reason of man's disaffection 
to the Gospel. Could he purchase salvation, he 
might be willing to obtain it at any price. Pil- 
grimages, penances, austerities of every kind are 
often submitted to with the utmost readiness ; but 
to come to Christ as a hell-deserving sinner, to 
plead the merits of his blood, to rely alone on his 
grace — what reluctance do we find to be saved on 
such terms ? 

Could I persuade you that I have in my pos- 
session the seamless coat of Christ, and that the 
sight or touch of that coat would impart to you 
some saving influence, how eager would you be to 
avail yourself of the privilege. Such an an- 
nouncement was made a few years since at Treves, 
a city in Germany, by a Catholic Archbishop. A 
formal exhibition of that pretended coat was there 
made in 1844, from the 18th of August to the 6th 
of October, and a general invitation was given to 
the faithful to repair to the precious relic. About 
500,000, or, according to the statement of some 
journals, about a million of pilgrims and visitors 
responded to the call, and with the assurance of a 
plenary indulgence, the deceived people flocked to 
behold the old piece of cloth, and returned rejoi- 
cing to their homes. 
16 



182 



N A AM AN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



Such credulity and superstition meet with our 
sincere pity, and our unmeasured condemnation ; 
but the spirit of self-righteousness evinced by 
those dupes of popish intrigue, is the spirit that 
pervades the bosom of eyery unredeemed man. 
If you cannot be induced to trust to a worn-out 
garment^ you may be trusting to something equally 
worthless. What are all your supposed virtues 
but " filthy rags" in the sight of God ; and what 
else have you by which to commend yourself to 
infinite purity for acceptance and salvation? 
"What!" says the sinner, u must I give up all de- 
pendence on anything I have yet done, anything 
I can possibly do ? Must I confess that I am 
totally corrupt, and justly condemned ? Must I 
be saved on the same terms as the most abandoned 
and vile ? be justified alone by faith — washed alone 
in a Saviour's blood? The stoop is too low; the 
conditions are too humiliating." 

2. Another cause of Naaman's displeasure was 
this — the proposed method of recovery was con- 
trary to his prescribed plan, his preconceived vietvs. 
" Behold," said he, " I thought he will surely come 
out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the 
Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, 
and recover the leper." He had formed his own 
notions as to the way in which he was to be cured, 
and the directions which he received did not at all 
correspond with his expectations. 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER, 



183 



Thus men prescribe their own method of salva- 
tion. Their early impressions in regard to that 
method were perhaps entirely erroneous, and are 
now adhered to with the utmost tenacity. They 
have been taught and led to believe that spiritual 
regeneration is a mere dream of enthusiasts, and 
they can scarcely listen to the doctrine, when faith- 
fully presented, without feeling the force of their 
long cherished prejudices. Or, if they are convinced 
of the necessity of such a change, they have pre- 
scribed their own way and means by which it is 
to be effected. Whatever crosses these, at once 
awakens their hostility. Instead of yielding them- 
selves up to the guidance of God's word and Spirit, 
they follow their own impulses and inclinations. 
Instead of submitting to the plan of salvation re- 
vealed in the Gospel, they have a plan of their 
own. If they are ever converted, they are resolved 
it shall be in a certain way, and in no other. It 
must be by a certain class of truths, by a certain 
system of measures, and by a certain process of 
mind — directly the reverse of those which infinite 
wisdom may see best to employ to accomplish the 
great change. 

3. The dissatisfaction of Naaman was also ex- 
cited by the apprehension that other means than 
those prescribed by the prophet, might prove 
equally, and even more effectual. "Are not/' said 



184 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



he, "Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, 
better than all the waters of Israel ?" " If I am 
to be cleansed of the leprosy by the application 
of water, there is abundance of that in my own 
country. "What is the insignificant stream of the 
Jordan, compared with our own Abana and Phar- 
par? Why should that possess any medicinal 
virtue which does not belong to these ? A strange 
request, indeed ! If such are the means by which 
I am to be cured, Damascus can as well supply 
them as Israel V 

And why, my hearers, do you not come to 
Christ that you may have life ? Is it not because 
your confidence is placed somewhere else ? One, 
perhaps, trusts to some external rite ; another to 
a reformation of his conduct ; a third to his con- 
nection with the visible Church ; a fourth to his 
regular performance of devotional duties. You 
cannot see why these things may not save you as 
well as simple faith. You can discover quite as 
much efficacy in your own righteousness as you 
can in the perfect righteousness of the Son of 
God. Why need you trust to the merit of another, 
when, in your view, you have merit enough of 
your own ? 

4. It is probable, too, that Naaman was offended 
at the mysteriousness of the means prescribed. 
" What ! wash in Jordan and be cleansed ? Who 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



185 



ever heard of water curing the leprosy ? "What 
possible connection can there be, in this case, be- 
tween the means and the end ? And, then, I am 
to wash seven times. Why will not one plunge 
suffice ? What does the prophet mean V 

u I cannot," says the sinner, " see how simple 
faith in Christ can save me. The whole plan of 
redemption through the atonement is to me a per- 
fect mystery." And what if it is? Does that 
afford any valid reason why you should reject it ? 
Is it necessary that you should perfectly under- 
stand the process by which a medicine removes a 
disease before you can be persuaded to avail your- 
self of it ? Its efficacy is founded not on your 
knowledge of its operation, but on its adaptation 
to the nature of the disorder. Admitting that 
there are mysteries connected with the Gospel 
scheme of salvation, that scheme we know origi- 
nated in heaven, and is the fruit of infinite wisdom 
and benevolence, Upon this scheme thousands, 
and tens of thousands, have ventured their all, 
and not in a single instance has there been any 
failure or disappointment. 

II. We have now seen some of the reasons why 
men are offended at God's plan of redemption; let 
us next consider why they ought not to be offended, 



16* 



186 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



ox present some inducements to engage your immediate 
acceptance of salvation through Christ. 

1. My first remark here is this — the method of 
salvation through the blood of a Redeemer is of 
divine appoinment. It is God who says to the sin- 
ner " Go wash in the fountain which I have opened 
and be clean." The plan of redemption originated 
in heaven. It is the result of divine counsel and 
foreknowledge, the fruit of divine wisdom and 
goodness. Humiliating as it is to man, it is alto- 
gether worthy of God. All your objections, there- 
fore, to the terms of the gospel, are virtually im- 
plications of the divine character. All the offence 
you take at the message of his servants, is offence 
taken at him. If you are dissatisfied with the 
truth as it is proclaimed by us, you are dissatisfied 
with him. If you are displeased with us you are 
displeased with him. It is not optional with us, 
as the heralds of divine grace, what we shall 
preach. We have received our commission and 
instructions, and to them must we faithfully ad- 
here. God forbid that we should know anything 
among you save Christ, and him crucified. 

Would you have God to save you in some other 
way? Will you set up your own judgment in 
opposition to his ? Will you condemn him that you 
may justify yourself? Will you take the credit of 
your salvation to yourself, and tear the crown of 
glory from the head of the Redeemer ? Go, proud 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



187 



man, and shrink into your own nothingness ; go 
cast yourself, as a guilty rebel, at the feet of 
offended heaven, and instead of proposing your 
own conditions of justification, accept with thank- 
fulness those which are presented to you in Christ, 
and let your glory henceforth he in the bleeding 
cross alone. 

2. The gospel method of salvation also recom- 
mends itself to you by the simple and easy terms 
on which it makes its proffers. The servants of 
Naaman, perceiving his reluctance to comply with 
the prophet's direction, kindly expostulated with 
him in the following words: "My father, if the 
prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst 
thou not have done it ? How much rather, then, 
when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean T 

They well knew that if their master had been 
required to submit to some painful operation, to 
take some nauseous medicine, or to bestow large 
sums of money in order to obtain a cure, he would 
unhesitatingly have acceded to the conditions. 
Why, then, should he object to the simple pre- 
scription to wash in Jordan seven times and be 
healed ? The expostulation had the desired effect. 
Naaman saw his folly, complied with the direc- 
tions, and was restored. 

And if men are willing to do what they regard 
as some "great thing" to obtain salvation — to tor- 



188 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



ture their bodies, to part with their wealth, to 
engage in burdensome rites, and even to lay down 
their lives, why should they not be willing simply 
to believe and be saved — to look and live — to wash 
and be clean ? 

"A person under deep conviction/' (says the 
late Dr. Bedell,) " once went to a minister of the 
gospel, from whose lips I received the relation, and 
placed before him the inquiry of the sinner, ' What 
must I do to be saved?' and at that moment 
through the window, his eye rested on an infirm 
old man, staggering under the weight of a burden 
evidently beyond his strength to carry. 6 I would 
carry that burden round the world/ said the sin- 
ner, pointing to the man, ' if it would only save 
my soul.' ' Yes, I have no doubt you would/ said 
the minister, ' if you could do it, and then go boast- 
ing into heaven. But you could not carry that bur- 
den round the world, even if salvation was the 
purchase. God has dealt more mercifully with 
you than this. You would carry a burden round 
the world to purchase your salvation, but you will 
not stoop to the humility of taking it as a free gift 
at the hands of God.'" 

3. I would urge you to avail yourself of God's 
plan of redeeming mercy, in view of its certain 
efficacy. 

Of Naaman it is recorded that he "went down, 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



189 



and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, accord- 
ing to the saying of the man of God, and his flesh 
came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and 
he was clean." 

No sooner did he comply with the prophet's di- 
rection than his health was restored. How sud- 
den and how happy the change. In a moment 
his leprosy was gone, and he became a sound and 
healthy man. 

Equally certain is salvation to all who seek it 
in God's appointed way. Trust in the mighty 
Saviour, and you shall live. His blood cleanseth 
from all sin. 

" His blood can make the foulest clean, 
His blood availed for me." 

There is no case, however obstinate, that it can- 
not reach. Multitudes have already proved its 
efficacy, and multitudes, yet unborn, are to know 
its healing virtue. With the fullest confidence 
you may rely on it, as a never-failing remedy for 
all your spiritual maladies. 

4. And this method of salvation, I may moreover 
remark, is the only method. In the case of Naaman 
there was no alternative but to wash in Jordan 
or retain his disease and die. It is so, too, with 
the sinner. In vain do you look for salvation but 
in the blood of the cross. As this is a sovereign, 



190 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



so it is the only remedy for sin. "Without shed- 
ding of blood there is no remission." Come to 
Christ and you are safe — refuse, and you must 
perish. There is no other sacrifice for sin — no 
other name under heaven whereby you can be 
saved. Not a soul has yet been saved but in this 
way, and we may be sure that there will be none 
hereafter, The redeemed will all be indebted to 
the same blood, the same free and abounding 
grace. The gospel is a complete leveller. I do 
not say that it annihilates all distinctions among 
men, but it places all on the same standing before 
Grocl. It regards all as covered with the same 
guilt and defilement, and it proclaims to all the 
same means of pardon and purification. 

5. The urgency of your case calls for an imme- 
diate acceptance of this salvation. Your disease, 
if not removed, must prove fatal. You are perish- 
ing in sin. Your condition is becoming more and 
more alarming. The horrors of the second death 
are just before you, and if deliverance be not ob- 
tained soon, your doom is sealed forever. Why, 
then, do you hesitate ? Why not consent to be 
saved on any terms ? Why remain a spiritual 
leper another day ? The remedy is at hand ; the 
healing balm is freely offered ; the physician of 
souls stands at your side, asking, " Wilt thou be 
made whole ?" Oh ! hasten your application to 
him, and accept with eagerness his proffered aid. 



N A AM AN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 191 

"To the dear fountain of thy blood, 
Incarnate God ! I fly ; 
Here let me wash my spotted soul, 
From crimes of deepest dye." 

REMARKS. 

1. And now let me remark. How wonderful is 
the change which divine grace effects in the char- 
acter of man. How entirely does it overcome all 
the natural aversion of the human heart to the 
salvation of the gospel ; and dispose us to ascribe 
the glory to God alone. The time was when the 
Christian was just as reluctant to be saved through 
Christ as other men, when he was possessed of the 
same spirit of self-righteousness, and when he urged 
the same objections to God's method of justifica- 
tion ; but now, how changed ! What was once his 
pride, is now his shame ; what was once an offence 
and a stumbling block, is now 7 all his salvation and 
glory. 

"Since the dear hour that brought me to thy foot, 
And cut up all my follies by the root, 
I never trusted in an arm but thine, 
Nor hoped but in thy righteousness divine ; 
My prayers and alms, imperfect and denied, 
Were but the feeble efforts of a child ; 
Cleansed in thine own all-purifying blood, 
Forgive their evil, and accept their good. 
I cask them at thy feet — my only plea, 
Is what it was, dependence upon thee/' 

These sentiments of the pious Cowper, will find 



192 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



a most ready response in every believers heart. 
u God forbid that I should glory save in the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ." "None but Christ, 
none but Christ." 

2. Here, too, we may learn why it is that men 
often seek for salvation, but seek in vain. Like 
Naaman they have prescribed their own method 
of cure. They are willing to do every thing, but 
the right thing. They trust to their past good- 
ness ; they trust to their present doings ; they trust 
to their future obedience, but they will not trust 
in Christ. This spirit of pride and self-righteous- 
ness lies deeply buried in every human breast. 
Men are often under its influence, when they are 
scarcely conscious of the fact. Not only the 
careless and stupid, but even the awakened and 
inquiring are prone to look for salvation in them- 
selves. Here is the grand reason why many seek 
for rest, but find none. Months, and even years 
may have been spent in mental anguish, and in 
fruitless efforts to do, what God has never required 
them to do, and what the sacrifice of the cross has 
already done for them. 

An Indian and a white man were both awakened 
under the same sermon. The Indian was soon en- 
abled to rejoice in the hope of salvation, while his 
white brother remained for a long time in deep 
distress, and on the borders of despair, but even- 
tually obtained a sense of pardoning mercy. 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



193 



Some time afterwards, meeting his red brother, 
he thus addressed him. " How is it that I should 
be so long under conviction, when you found com- 
fort so soon ? " Oh ! brother/' said the Indian, 
% me tell you. There come along a rich prince, he 
promise to give you a new coat, you look at your 
coat and say, ' I don't know, my coat pretty good, 
I believe it will do a little longer.' He then give 
me new coat. I look on my old blanket, I say, 
this good for nothing. I fling it right away, and 
take my new coat. Just so brother, you try to 
make your old righteousness do for some time ; 
you loath to give it up, but I poor Indian had none, 
and therefore I glad to receive at once the right- 
eousness of the Lord Jesus Christ." 

This simple story presents the true reason why 
so many moral men are excluded from salvation, 
while the vilest sinners are made partakers of it ; 
and also the reason why persons in an awakened 
state of mind often seek for rest, and yet fail to 
obtain it. In this simple story we have more true 
theology than can be found in all the Oxford tracts 
that have ever been published, or all the Puseyite 
sermons that have ever been preached. 

3. One remark more. If men perish the fault 
must be their own. It is not because salvation is 
not provided, but because it is rejected. Malig- 
nant as is your disease, and incurable as it is by 

17 



194 



NAAMAST, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



man, the gospel proclaims to you a certain remedy, 
a remedy as free as it is efficacious. The healing 
balm is offered; it is within your reach; it is 
pressed upon your acceptance, but it is neglected 
and despised. You have no idea of being saved in 
God's way. You complain of it as unreasonable. 
Rather than accept the remedy he proposes, you 
prefer to retain your leprosy, and perish. Upon 
whom, then, can you cast the blame of your per- 
dition ! It rests neither upon the Father, nor the 
Son, nor the Spirit, but upon yourself. You die 
by your own suicidal hand. You push away from 
you the only hope of your sin-stricken soul. You 
dash from your fevered lips the cup of salvation, 
and go down to the chambers of eternal death, 
your own destroyer. Now your disease becomes 
fixed in your moral nature, and incurable. You 
have entered upon eternity with a character that 
admits of no change. While every power of your 
soul will still be in full exercise, all will be in com- 
plete ruins, and the elements of depravity left to 
develop themselves forever. Happy spirits will 
be advancing in knowledge, holiness, and felicity, 
while you are doomed to unending sin, despair and 
misery. The heavens above ring with the notes of 
the " great multitude," redeemed by a Saviour's 
blood, while for you is reserved nothing but " weep- 
ing, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. The glorified 



NAAMAN, THE SYRIAN LEPER. 



195 



throng are eternally ravished with the vision of the 
Lamb, while you remain a wretched exile from his 
presence, and the monument of his merited and 
ever-enduring wrath. 

And all this will be the result of your own neg- 
lect and folly. You might have been saved, but 
you would not. The fire continues to burn, the 
worm to gnaw, and eternity to roll round, while in 
tones of thunder, the fearful charge falls upon your 
ear, " Oh ! sinner, thou hast destroyed thyself !" 



SERMON X. 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 

And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God. 
Luke xviii. 43. 

The miracles which our Lord wrought on the 
body, are strikingly emblematical of the opera- 
tions of his grace on the soul. The. natural blind- 
ness of Bartimeus affords a representation of the 
moral darkness of the unregenerated heart, and 
the manner in which he applied to Christ for relief, 
points out the manner in which the sinner is to 
apply for spiritual illumination. As the recovery 
of the blind man was instantaneous, so is also the 
recovery of man from sin to holiness. "Imme- 
diately he received his sight, &c." 

Regeneration or conversion (for we use the terms 
as synonymous,) is an instantaneous change. This 
is the doctrine which we now purpose to explain, 
establish and apply. 

♦ 

I. The doctrine requires, in the first place, to 
be explained. 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 197 

1. I remark here, we must be careful to distin- 
guish between the beginning of holiness, and its 
progress. The former we denominate regenera- 
tion; the latter, sanctification. Regeneration is 
instantaneous ; sanctification, gradual. The work 
of religion is a work for life. Grace, once implanted 
in the soul, is susceptible of continual growth. 
" The path of the just is as the shining light, that 
shineth more and more unto the perfect day." 
" First appears the blade ; then the ear ; then the 
full corn in the ear." The divine life is carried 
forward gradually, but it never begins gradually. 

2. We must also distinguish between conviction 
and conversion. Conviction, however indispensable 
to conversion, forms, properly, no part of it. Many 
who are the subjects of the one, never become the 
subjects of the other. Conviction may be gradual, 
and may be protracted for a long period, and it is 
this fact that has led some to regard regeneration 
itself as progressive. They refer you to the cases 
of those who for months, and even for years, have 
been impressed with the importance of religion, 
before they have been brought into the light and 
liberty of the sons of God, and the inference is 
now drawn, that in such cases there was a gradual 
transition from a state of nature to a state of grace, 
until the work of regeneration was fully accom- 
plished. 

17* 



198 REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 

But it ought to be known, that conviction of sin 
is not necessarily accompanied with any change of 
moral character. It may exist in the highest 
degree, while the heart retains all its natural per- 
verseness,and is excited even to a more determined 
resistance of the truth. However long, therefore, 
the sinner may be oppressed with a sense of guilt 
or may be deliberating the question of duty, until 
he yields himself to Christ, and accepts the mercy 
offered to him in the gospel, so far from growing 
better, he may all the while be growing worse. 
No essential change takes place iii his character 
until he casts himself in humble penitence at the 
foot of the cross, and with unreserved consecration 
gives himself away to the service and glory of 
God. 

3. It may be important also to remark, that 
while regeneration itself is instantaneous, the per- 
ception or development of the change may be gradual. 
I am aware that there are those who insist that 
every regenerate man must be able to point out 
both the moment and the place of his conversion. 
The Scriptures, however, nowhere represent this 
as essential. If a man can truly say, " Whereas 
I was once blind, but now I see," it is a matter of 
little importance, where, when, or how, the change 
took place. It may be thought that as regenera- 
tion is a transformation so deep and radical, there 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 199 

can be no difficulty in always determining the very 
instant when the change is produced. There would 
be no difficulty if we could always distinguish our 
spiritual exercises. It cannot, however, be ques- 
tioned that many, in consequence of their imperfect 
knowledge of the proper evidences of piety, the 
fear of self-deception, or the influence of tempta- 
tion, are kept in suspense in regard to their con- 
version, who, notwithstanding, have actually passed 
from death unto life. The assurance of our per- 
sonal salvation is, by no means, essential to the 
existence of evangelical faith. Such assurance is, 
unquestionably, desirable, and should be regarded 
as an attainable privilege; and yet there may be 
genuine piety, mingled with most painful heart 
searchings, and much doubt as to our actual ac- 
ceptance with God. " The sun may come up be- 
hind clouds; it may not shine out till noon, nor 
even until its going down. A disease may pass 
its crisis, and for hours and days, one may not be 
conscious of it." 

II. With these explanations or qualifications, we 
now proceed to the proofs of our doctrine ; namely, 
that regeneration or conversion is, in all cases, an 
instantaneous change. 

1. The very terms which are employed in the 
Scriptures to express the change, convey to us the 
idea of instantaneousness. 



200 REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 

It is denominated Regeneration ; or, a new birth. 
Now, if men are born again, there must be a time 
when the transition takes place. Should we apply 
the term to the progress of divine grace in the 
Christian's heart, then every day he would be born 
anew. This would be about as consistent as to 
call our advancement from childhood to youth, and 
from youth to manhood, a new birth. 

The change is sometimes designated as a new 
creation. " If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature." To create, properly signifies to cause 
that to exist which did not before exist. There 
can be no point of time between existence and 
non-existence. When God said, " Let there be 
light," instantly there was light ; and just as in- 
stantaneous is the communication of spiritual light 
to those who are in spiritual darkness. " God 
w T ho commanded the light, to shine out of dark- 
ness, hath shined in our hearts." 2 Cor. iv. 6. 

This change is also denominated a resurrection or 
quickening. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek 
those things which are above." "You hath he 
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and in sins." 
There can be no medium between life and death. 
A man must either be dead or alive. Equally ob- 
vious is it, that every moral and accountable being 
must either be spiritually dead or alive ; and that 
there must have been an instant when the believer 
" passed from death unto life." 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 201 

Conversion is called a new heart. The heart is 
new when its governing purpose and prevailing af- 
fections are radically changed. Now, as a man 
cannot have two objects of supreme choice or af- 
fection at the same time, the renewal of the heart, 
whenever it takes place, must, from the nature of 
the case, transpire at a definite moment. 

2. That conversion is an instantaneous change, 
will also appear from the divine requirements. " To- 
day," saith the Holy Ghost, " if ye will hear his 
voice, harden not your hearts." " God noiv com- 
manded all men everywhere to repent." "Ac- 
quaint now thyself with him, and be at peace." 
" Behold now is the accepted time ; behold now is 
the clay of salvation." 

In every passage where the duty of repentance, 
of faith, or any other exercise of a renewed heart 
is enjoined, the obligation to immediate compliance 
is always expressed or implied. Nowhere does 
God grant to the sinner license to defer his duty a 
single moment. 

Now, if God demands instantaneous conversion, 
it is evident that such a conversion is practicable. 
Should it require any considerable time for men to 
embrace the gospel, it would hardly be enjoined 
upon them as a present duty. This would be re- 
quiring them to do what is absolutely impossible 
in the very nature of the case. 



202 KEGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 

3. The doctrine of instantaneous regeneration 
may also be proved from the doctrine of total de- 
pravity. 

The heart of man by nature is utterly destitute 
of holiness, and under the entire dominion of sin. 
" The carnal mind is enmity against God, and is 
not subject to the law of God." In this respect, 
the hearts of all the fallen descendants of Adam 
are fashioned alike. There is no more moral good- 
ness in one than in another. We may differ greatly 
in our natural dispositions, and in our external con- 
duct, but we are all equally void of love to God, 
or conformity to his law. All holiness is the fruit 
of divine grace ; and if ever men become holy, 
there must be a time when they begin to be so. 
The beginning of a thing must always be instanta- 
neous. The very first exercise of holy affections, 
is proof of a radical change of character — of the 
renewing of the Holy Ghost. 

We see not how this conclusion can be avoided by 
those who admit the scriptural doctrine of human de- 
pravity; and I think it will be found, that wherever 
the instantaneousness of regeneration is ignored, 
there is also a denial of mans total sinfulness. 
The idea then is, that human nature, though de- 
generate, still possesses some remains of moral 
goodness, and that this remaining germ has only 
to be cultivated or matured, and man is thus 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 203 

brought again to fellowship with God. But the 
Scriptures recognize no such germ in the unre- 
newed heart. They teach us, on the other hand, 
that " the heart of the sons of men is full of evil/' 
u desperately wicked/' " alienated from the life of 
God and from this it must clearly follow, that 
regeneration is not the improvement or develop- 
ment of a character already existing, but the pro- 
duction of a character altogether new. 

4. As another confirmation of our doctrine, we 
now remark, Man can evidently sustain no neutral 
character. As we are all responsible subjects of 
the divine government, we must necessarily pos- 
sess some character — a character decidedly good 
or evh. " He that is not with me," says Jesus, " is 
against me, and he that gathereth not with me 
scattereth abroad." " No man can serve two mas- 
ters." " Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." 
Here we are plainly taught that every man must 
be either the friend or the enemy of God, the ser- 
vant of God or the servant of sin. 

The Scriptures uniformly divide mankind into 
two classes — the righteous and the wicked — the 
godly and the ungodly — the holy and the sinful. 
This distinction clearly implies that there can be 
no instant of time in which a man is destitute of 
all moral character — neither a saint nor a sinner, 
neither a believer nor an unbeliever, neither peni- 
tent nor impenitent. 



204 REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 



Now, if regeneration be a gradual change, I 
would ask, what character does the man sustain 
who is neither regenerate nor unregenerate, or, 
w T ho during a protracted period, is passing through 
the process of regeneration ? Is he holy or sinful ? 
Indifferent he cannot be. Should it be said, that 
the work of holiness has commenced, then, I main- 
tain, he is already regenerated. The transition 
from a state of nature to a state of grace has mani- 
festly taken place. If, on the other hand, he is 
yet destitute of holiness, then he must be alien- 
ated from God, whatever may be his anxiety in 
reference to his personal salvation. 

5. I now remark — the very nature of regeneration 
shows that it must be instantaneous. 

Regeneration is a change of heart — a change 
from sin to holiness, from wrong to right affections, 
evincing itself, of course, in a corresponding change 
of conduct. 

It is a change from enmity to love, Man by na- 
ture is the enemy of God ; by grace he becomes 
his friend. Now the love of God is shed abroad 
in the heart by the Holy Ghost. " He that loveth 
is born of God." 

It is easy to see that this change from enmity 
to love is not gradual, but instantaneous. How- 
ever long and -deeply the mind may be impressed 
w r ith the obligation to love God, and the criminality 
of hating him, whenever the feelings, in reference 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 205 

to the divine character, are changed, there must 
be an instant when the change takes place. 

So, too, in regard to the exercise of submission. 
This is the opposite of rebellion. As ambassadors 
of Christ, we are commissioned to beseech men to 
become reconciled to God. The termination of the 
contest which man maintains with God must be 
instantaneous ; for there can be no point of time 
when his position, in reference to the divine gov- 
ernment, can be a neutral one. 

Repentance is another exercise of a regenerated 
heart, but it is obvious that there can be no state 
of the mind in which it is neither penitent nor im- 
penitent. 

Another fruit of regeneration is faith. Every 
man, however, must be a believer or an unbeliever. 
If there is a state in which a man is neither, what 
is that state ? and what is the position he occupies 
in reference to the demands of the Gospel? 

In regeneration the natural selfishness of the 
heart gives place to holy benevolence. The subject 
of this change instead of living supremely for 
himself, henceforth lives wholly for God. This 
transition, also, must be instantaneous; otherwise 
there is a state in which a man is neither supremely 
selfish nor supremely benevolent ; in other words, 
in which he has no moral character, and has ceased 
to be responsible. 

18 



206 REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 

6. We remark further : — Regeneration must be 
just as instantaneous as forgiveness. 

Every man must either be forgiven or unfor- 
given. Any medium state would imply that he 
is neither an object of the divine favor, nor of the 
divine displeasure, neither redeemed from the 
curse of the law, nor yet exposed to that curse. 
Such a supposition must be wholly inadmissible. 
If a sinner is pardoned instantly, then he must be 
converted instantly ; for the former is the imme- 
diate and invariable consequence of the latter. 

" The moment a sinner believes 

And trusts in a crucified God, 
A pardon at once he receives, 

Eedemption in full through his blood." . 

Let us suppose the process of regeneration to oc- 
cupy only a single week. The question occurs, 
what relation does the individual, during that pe- 
riod, sustain to the penalty of sin? Is that 
penalty remitted ? Then he must be converted ; 
for God never pardons the sinner while yet un- 
converted. Is the sinner yet unpardoned? Then 
it is obvious he must yet be unconverted. Is he 
neither pardoned nor unpardoned ? No human 
being can occupy such a position. And what if 
he were to die in that state — would he enter 
heaven or hell? There is certainly no middle 
place allotted for those whose characters are indif- 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 207 

ferent — neither holy nor sinful. There are but 
two ways — sin and holiness ; and but two ends — 
life and destruction. Every one in this assembly 
is now walking in one of these ways, and were he 
to die this moment, would rise to the regions of 
bliss or sink to the depths of woe. 

7. If we now refer to the cases of conversion re- 
corded in the Scriptures? we shall find that they 
were remarkable for their suddenness. It was so 
with the three thousand on the day of Pentecost. 
These were all converted during that single day, 
and, probably, in the course of a few hours. 

The conversion of th^ jailor and his household 
took place on that very night when they were 
awakened. 

Saul of Tarsus yielded himself to Christ the 
moment he fell to the earth, and cried out, " Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do ?" Whatever may 
have been his state on the three succeeding days, 
there can be no question that his conviction and 
conversion were simultaneous. 

Salvation came to Zaccheus on the same day that 
he first beheld the Son of God, and welcomed him 
to his house. 

The heart of Lydia was opened to attend to the 
things pertaining to her eternal peace, while she 
listened to the gospel from the lips of God's mes- 
sengers. 



208 REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 

The dying malefactor from a hardened impeni- 
tent, suddenly became an humble believer, and 
from his cross of ignominy ascended to the celes- 
tial paradise. 

Protracted convictions in the days of the Apos- 
tles seem to have been rare. Those who embraced 
the gospel, commonly embraced it on the spot. 
Under the same discourse men were both awakened 
and converted. When the truth had been fairly 
presented, they were called upon instantly to em- 
brace it, and under its fervent appeals they usually 
yielded an instant compliance with its claims, or 
set themselves in the attitude of determined re- 
sistance. 

Here, let it be remembered, that conversion is 
the same now that it was then. The change itself 
is the same, and it is effected by the same means. 
The miracles which were sometimes wrought in 
attestation of the truth, might produce conviction, 
but it was the truth, not the miracle, w 7 hich accom- 
plished the work of conversion. 

It is no uncommon thing at the present day, 
particularly during times of special religious inter- 
est, for conversions to take place very suddenly. 
We have known instances in which the same ser- 
mon has proved the means both of the sinner's 
awakening and conversion. The moment he has 
been brought to feel his need of a Saviour, he has 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 209 

received him. And such conversions have also 
proved genuine and permanent. Indeed, so far 
from regarding the suddenness of a man's conver- 
sion as unfavorable, it ought rather to be regarded 
as the reverse. How long, I would ask, is it neces- 
sary for a sinner to hesitate, to linger, and to 
grieve the Holy Spirit, in order to insure the 
genuineness of his conversion? The sooner he 
yields to his convictions of truth and duty, the 
better. Nothing can be gained by delay but in- 
creased difficulty, and more aggravated guilt. 

8. I may yet remark : With the doctrine of this 
discourse, accord the common sentiments of men. 
Whatever objections they may be disposed to 
urge against instantaneous conversions, it is evi- 
dent that their prejudice against such conversions 
exist, only when they take place under certain circum- 
stances. Let some thoughtless one, now in this 
assembly, aroused to a sense of his peril, resolve 
at once to flee to Christ for refuge, and by some 
he might be regarded as altogether too hasty ; but 
let the same individual on a bed of death profess 
to be converted, just as hastily, and it may then 
be all right. You must not, under these circum- 
stances, question the reality of the change, or en- 
tertain the least doubt as to the future happiness 
of the penitent, after his decease. To do so would 
be uncharitable indeed. 

18* 



210 REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE, 

There are multitudes who are kept from imme- 
diate repentance, under the delusive hope that they 
will repent at the close of life. If they have no 
confidence in sudden conversions while men are in 
health, they have when men are brought on beds 
of sickness and death. They sometimes tell us that 
all they want is, but a few moments to call for 
mercy, and God will surely not fail to regard their 
cries. 

And the same hopes they thus cherish for them- 
selves, they also cherish for others. As ministers 
of the gospel we are often sent for to visit the 
dying, whose preparation for eternity is now 
crowded into the short period of a few days or 
hours. Suppose, that, as we approach them under 
these deeply affecting circumstances, and hear 
from their lips the anxious inquiry, " What must 
we do to be saved?" we were to reply in lan- 
guage like the following : u My friend, it is now 
too late to ask that question ; regeneration is a gra- 
dual change. You cannot be converted in an hour 
or a day. It requires time to deliberate about the 
matter. It is needless, therefore, I am sorry to 
say, to attempt an answer to your inquiry at this 
late period, or even to offer up one prayer for your 
salvation. Your perdition is sealed without any 
possibility of change." 

What would you think of such instruction ? 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE, 211 

Would it be right ? Surely not. You believe that 
men may be converted suddenly when sick, but 
not when in health— on a bed of death, but not in 
the sanctuary of God. Is there no inconsistency 
here ? 

We confess that we have but little confidence 
in death-bed conversions ; not because a sinner may 
not be changed in a moment, but because he is 
then peculiarly liable to embrace a false hope, or 
he may already have passed the boundary line of 
God's patience and mercy. But if men can be 
converted instantly on the borders of the grave, 
then, surely, they may be converted thus sur- 
rounded by all the privileges of God's house, and 
the powerful influences of a religious revival. It 
is well known that no class of men are commonly 
more opposed to instantaneous conversions, than 
those who hold to that figment of superstition, bap- 
tismal regeneration. With religious revivals they 
have not the least sympathy, but denounce them 
as the fruit of folly and extravagance. They cannot 
conceive how such numbers can, in so short a time, 
be transformed in their character, and thus become 
the disciples of Jesus, and the heirs of salvation. 
And yet there is no class of persons who, in a cer- 
tain view, are more zealous advocates of instan- 
taneous regeneration than these. The mere appli- 
cation of a few drops of water to the body, by one 



212 REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 

in the apostolic succession, is instantly followed, 
they tell us, by an essential change in the moral 
condition of the subject. Then the germ of grace 
is planted ; then the process of redemption begins ; 
a child of wrath becomes a child of God, and an 
heir of glory! Here is instantaneous regeneration 
with a witness ; and yet absurd as is the notion, it 
has its advocates among men of whom a better 
theology might be expected. 

The subject before us is one of great practical 
importance. Let it lead the church to pray and 
labor for immediate conversions. There is often a 
great mistake here. The efforts that are put forth 
relate far more to the prospective than to the pre- 
sent conversion of the impenitent. The evil pre- 
vails in the pulpit, in the Sabbath-school, and in 
the family. But little effort is made to bring the 
truth to bear directly on the heart, and but little 
expectation is entertained of immediate results. 
There are those who seem to think it their busi- 
ness only to soiv and never to reap. They content 
themselves with the hope that if they witness no 
fruit now they may hereafter. 

The same error prevails in prayer. We pray 
for the conversion of sinners at some future day, 
but hardly expect that it will take place at the 
moment. There are but few Christians who, in 



REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 213 

their prayers, appear to feel that the impenitent 
can and ought to be converted on the spot. 

Now, this is all wrong. It is founded on false 
views of the nature of conversion, and it is foster- 
ing hopes that may never be realized. While we 
are looking forward to the future to witness the 
results of our prayers and efforts, death may sud- 
denly summon the sinner away to the judgment, 
or God may say to him, " He is joined to his idols, 
let him alone." 

To those in this house who are yet unregene- 
rate, this subject is invested with peculiar interest. 
It calls upon you at once to yield yourselves to 
the claims of the gospel, and exposes the utter 
folly of all those pleas by which you may have 
been accustomed to justify your delay. God de- 
mands immediate submission — immediate repent- 
ance—immediate faith. " Choose ye this day 
whom you will serve." 

And what is there to hinder you from instantly 
complying with the call of heaven ? Are you 
afraid that you will act too precipitately ? What, 
can you return from your wanderings too soon ? 
yield your unreasonable warfare with God too 
soon ? rejoice in a sense of pardoning love too 
soon ? " How long halt ye between two opinions ?" 
Are not all things now ready ? Is not God wait- 
ing to be gracious ? Does not the Spirit now 



214 REGENERATION AN INSTANTANEOUS CHANGE. 

strive ? Is not prayer for your conversion now 
ascending ? What, then, wait you for ? For more 
ligh fc, more conviction, more feeling, more prepara- 
tion ? Come to Christ just as you are. Cry with 
Bartimeus, " Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy 
upon me," and he who pitied the poor blind beg- 
gar will look with pity upon you, Only believe, 
and thou shalt see the salvation of God. 



SERMON XL 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not 
seen. — Hebrews, xL 1. 

A better definition of faith than this could not 
be given. It is clear, concise, and comprehensive. 
It is the only definition of that important grace 
with which the Bible furnishes us. It is given by 
one who not only lived under its influence, and 
who had, therefore, become experimentally ac- 
quainted with its nature, but who was also divinely 
inspired to write on this subject. The definition 
relates to faith in general, or in its most compre- 
hensive sense, and not to that particular exercise 
which fixes itself upon Christ as an atoning Sa- 
viour, and which constitutes the grand principle of 
the sinners justification. Faith, however, is ever 
the same mental operation. It may have respect 
to different objects, but in its nature it is identical, 
notwithstanding its specific varieties. 

Theologians sometimes speak of historical faith, 
temporary faith, and saving faith. There is, how- 
ever, but one kind of faith which is acceptable to 



216 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 



God, and that is distinguished as "the faith of his 
elect" — a faith which belongs to the heart no less 
than to the understanding — a faith experimental, 
practical and influential. 

It is to the nature and the effects of this faith, as 
exhibited by the Apostle in the text, that we now 
invite your special attention. 

I. Faith, in the first place, is defined to be the 
substance of things hoped for. The marginal read- 
ing is, ground or confidence. The word here trans- 
lated substance occurs but in four other passages 
of the New Testament, in three of which it is ren- 
dered confidence or confident, (2 Cor. ix. 4 — xl 17; 
Heb. iii. 14,) and in the other, (Heb. i. 3,) person. 
The word properly means something substantial 
or real, in opposition to something imaginary or 
deceptive. The idea of the Apostle evidently is, 
that faith renders to the mind the objects of our 
anticipation or hope, real or substantial, as distin- 
guished from those that are visionary and delu- 
sive. It does not, indeed, create those objects, 
yet it imparts to them, in our view, as real a sub- 
sistence as if they were actually in our possession, 
or were objects of vision. We act just as though 
we saw them. They have upon us all the force 
of reality. 

To illustrate this. I hold in my hand a note from 
a man promising to pay me the sum of one hun- 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 217 



dred dollars at a certain date. That note is to me 
"the substance of things hoped for/' I feel as 
fully persuaded that the. money will be mine as if 
I actually held it in possession, and this assurance 
is founded on the pledge of my friend. I fully 
believe that he will meet his enaaa-ement and fulfill 
his contract. The note is to me of as much value 
as so much money. It was given to me in good 
faith, and I carefully preserve it, with the certain 
expectation that when it becomes due it will be 
paid. 

So I open my Bible and. read — " This is the 
record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and 
this life is in his Son." This promise is made to 
me by the God of truth. On this I rely with im- 
plicit confidence. It relates, indeed, to something 
future. I do not see heaven ; I have not yet en- 
tered heaven, and yet I feel assured, not only of 
the existence of that happy world, but that in 
due time I shall be received there as my eternal 
home. This confidence is founded upon the promise 
of God. I know that he cannot deceive or disap- 
point me. His power is infinite — his word is eter- 
nal truth. 

" His every word of grace is strong, 
As that which built the skies ; 
The voice that rolls the stars along 
Speaks all the promises/' 

19 



218 FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 

Whatever uncertainty may attend the fulfillment 
of other engagements, the promise of God cannot 
fail. Thus I have already "the substance of 
things hoped for." Heaven appears as real to me 
as though I were already there. It is no dream 
of the imagination — no picture of the fancy — no 
illusion of the senses, but sober and blessed reality. 

So, too, I read in the same book, "Ask, and ye 
shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened." 
Here I have a most encouraging promise to prayer. 
The blessings promised are yet regarded in anti- 
cipation. I have not already received them, but 
I go to God with the full confidence that they will 
be granted. Of this I feel as firmly persuaded as 
if I already possessed them. The only question 
to be determined is, What has God engaged to 
give ? If I can ascertain this, then I may rest 
assured it shall be mine. For example, he has 
said, " This is the will of God, even your sanctifi- 
cation." On this assurance it is both my duty and 
privilege to rely. In faith I now draw nigh to 
him, and plead, " Create in me, 0 God, a clean 
heart, and renew a right spirit within me," and I 
realize that the blessing is as certainly mine, as if 
I had already received it. 

Again, I kneel down, and plead for the outpour- 
ing of the Holy Spirit, the conversion of sinners, 
and the extension of the Saviours kingdom ; and 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 219 

relying with full confidence on the divine promise, 
I feel persuaded that the blessing will come — that 
however long it may be delayed, in his own time, 
and in his own way, the hearer of prayer will cer- 
tainly grant me my request. " Blessed is she that 
believed, for there shall be a performance of those 
things which were told her of the Lord." — Luke 
i. 45. 

We do not suppose that believers are now fa- 
vored w 7 ith any immediate revelations ; and yet 
there are instances in which their faith has risen 
to such a height, as to impart to their minds an 
almost undoubted persuasion that the specific 
objects of their prayers would be granted. In 
this there is nothing strange or visionary. It is 
the natural and legitimate result of a vigorous 
faith in the promises of God ; and did we live in 
more intimate communion with him, we should, 
doubtless, be far more frequently favored with this 
happy experience. Let me state to you a case 
illustrative of this point. 

Some years since, there was a widow living in 
New Jersey, who was the mother of four children. 
For the salvation of her offspring, she was in the 
practice of observing days of private fasting and 
prayer. In conversation with a friend, she one 
day remarked in reference to the }< r oungest, "Ash- 
bel will be a minister of the Gospel." This she 



220 FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 

firmly believed, and she educated him under that 
belief. Soon after this, the lad was brought home 
from school dangerously sick. It was supposed 
that he could not live, but the mother calmly re- 
marked, " I wish to do all in my power to relieve 
him, but I have not the least fear that he will die." 
Her confidence was in a prayer-hearing God. The 
son recovered, and the mothers subsequent con- 
duct, for a series of years, fully evinced that her 
faith was to her " the substance of things hoped 
for, the evidence of things not seen." 

She carried him through all his preparatory 
studies, and sent him to Princeton College for the 
express purpose of preparing him for the ministry, 
though all this time he was a thoughtless, impeni- 
tent youth. 

Just before he graduated, he wrote home to his 
mother to know what he should do with his room 
furniture. She wrote to him to leave it in the 
care of some friend in Princeton. She intended 
and expected to send him back to the Seminary. 
The son complied with her request, and returned 
home, without the least thought or desire, on his 
part, to become a minister of the Gospel. This 
was a matter entirely between his mother and her 
God. 

Soon after, the place where they resided was 
visited by a revival of religion. All the children 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 221 

of this believing woman were hopefully converted, 
and this son among the rest. In due time he en- 
tered Princeton Seminary, and found use for his 
college-room furniture, in accordance with the 
faith and expectation of his mother. He finished 
his theological course, entered the ministry, and 
became an acceptable preacher of the Gospel. 

In this instance, it seems as though God actu- 
ally said, " 0 woman ! great is thy faith ; be it 
unto thee even as thou wilt." 

II. We come now to the second clause in the 
Apostle's definition of faith. Faith, he says, is 
" the evidence of things not seen." 

Faith properly relates to things unseen, and is 
thus distinguished from sight. " We walk by 
faith, not by sight." Faith occupies the place oi 
sight, and affords the same conviction of the reality 
of things as though they were objects of vision. 
It so completely demonstrates the existence or 
truth of those things that they exert upon us all 
the influence of objects that come within the range 
of the senses. How do you know that there is 
such a place as J erusalem ? You have never, per- 
haps, been there, and yet you entertain no more 
doubt of its actual existence than if you had seen 
the place with your own eyes. How do you know 
that there was such a person as Napoleon Bona- 

19* 



222 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 



parte ? You may never have seen the Emperor, 
and yet you are as fully persuaded that there was 
such a man as though you had been with him in 
all his campaigns, or had beheld him passing 
through the streets of Paris. Why have such 
numbers been induced to flock to the gold mines 
of California ? They had never seen those mines, 
and yet they no more questioned their existence 
than if they had actually dug from them the pre- 
cious ore. In all these cases the evidence is the 
evidence of faith — evidence founded on credible 
testimony. It is just so in regard to the invisible 
realities revealed to us in the word of God. With 
these realities we become acquainted only by tes- 
timony, and that testimony being regarded as un- 
questionable, we have the same conviction of the 
truth of the things under consideration, as we 
should have were they presented to our bodily 
senses. 

This may be illustrated by a few particulars. 

It is by faith we are persuaded of the creation 
of the tvorld ly divine poiver. " Through faith/' 
says the Apostle, u we understand that the worlds 
were framed by the word of God ; so that things 
which are seen were not made of things which do 
appear." — v. 3. How do I know T that God created 
the w r orld ? That it exists I have the evidence of 
my senses ; but how came it to exist ? u Where 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 223 

wast thou when he laid the foundations of the 
earth ?" Long before we had a being, the mighty 
God " spake and it was done ; he commanded and 
it stood fast he said, " Let there be light ; and 
there was light." All this I believe on credible 
testimony. I cannot comprehend how the world 
was called into being. The creation of something- 
out of nothing is to me a perfect mystery. Yet 
the world exists. How came it to exist ? Was 
it eternal? Did it create itself? Did it come 
into being by " the fortuitous concourse of atoms ?" 
None of these theories satisfy me. How, then, 
shall I be relieved of my perplexity? Divine 
revelation alone can solve the problem. Here I 
am assured that " he who made all things is God." 
This testimony is to me sufficient. All my diffi- 
culties now vanish, and I as certainly know that 
this world was called into existence by the Al- 
mighty energy, as I could be had I been present 
to witness the sublime spectacle, and, with " the 
morning stars," extol the wondrous display of 
divine wisdom and power. 

Again : Faith imparts to the mind evidence of 
God's existence. Is there a God, a Supreme intelli- 
gence, an Almighty ruler of the universe ? No 
question can be conceived of higher moment than 
this. It lies at the foundation of all religion. Of 
the divine existence I entertain no doubt. But 
why do I believe that there is a God ? I may strive 



224 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 



by various metaphysical arguments to demonstrate 
his being. I may show that he is from what he 
does, tracing the effect to the cause — the design to 
the designer. All this may be strictly logical, and 
may not be without its force and its use. The 
mere deductions of human reason, however, can 
never fully satisfy the mind of man, darkened as 
are its perceptions by sin, as to the reality of the 
divine existence. The Pagan world with all their 
wisdom knew not God. " Professing themselves 
to be wise, they became fools, and changed the 
glory of the incorruptible God into an image like 
unto corruptible man." In his condescension, God 
has made himself known in his tvorct. To the light 
of nature, he has added the light of revelation. 
He has proclaimed both his existence and his per- 
fections. " No man hath seen God at any time ; 
the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the 
Father, he hath declared him." On this sure tes- 
timony I now rely. The divine existence now ap- 
pears as a reality. I am as fully convinced of that 
existence as I am of my own. I feel that I am 
surrounded with the divine immensity, and that 
all things are naked and open to the eyes of him 
with whom we have to do. 

14 Faith lends its realizing light, 

The clouds disperse, the shadows fly. 

The invisible appears in sight, 
And God is seen by mortal eye." 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 



225 



It is by faith, also, that we obtain the evidence 
of our pardon and acceptance with God. That it is 
our privilege to enjoy such evidence, I will not 
now stop to prove ; but upon what does that evi- 
dence rest ? Upon dreams and visions ? upon 
sounds and sights ? upon immediate revelations and 
suggestions ? We claim nothing of the kind. No 
voice has assured us of forgiveness. No messen- 
ger from heaven has communicated to us the fact ; 
and yet we feel persuaded, that, guilty as we are, 
all our transgressions are, through the blood of 
Christ, graciously remitted. Upon what, then, is 
this assurance based ? Upon the simple testimony 
of God's word. I take up that word and read, 
" Repent and be converted, and your sins shall be 
blotted out. Let the wicked forsake his way, and 
the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him re- 
turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly par* 
don." With these conditions I have the conscious- 
ness that I have complied, and hence I feel the 
same confidence that I am pardoned and accepted 
of God, as I would were I to hear his voice saying 
to me, " I, even I, have blotted out thy transgres- 
sions." 

Faith assures us of the existence of a future state. 
The arguments in proof of such a state, derived 
from the nature of the human soul, the moral 



226 FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 

government of God, and the general conviction and 
consent of mankind, are not, indeed, to be dis- 
paraged. Upon the generality of men, however, 
they would, aside from divine revelation, produce 
but a very feeble impression. Even to those who 
are most capable of appreciating them, they are 
far from being satisfactory. The wisest Pagan 
philosophers regarded a future existence more as 
an object of desire than of absolute assurance. 
There are difficulties connected with all the argu- 
ments on this subject, deduced from human reason, 
which nothing but divine revelation can remove. 
The gospel alone has " brought life and immortality 
to light." Here I am assured that while " the 
dust returns to the earth, as it was, the spirit re- 
turns to God who gave it." The only question to 
be decided is — Is this book true ? Is it what it 
claims to be, the word of God, a revelation from 
heaven ? That point, I believe, is established by 
evidence the most conclusive. Well, that book 
teaches me " that after death is the judgment." It 
assures me that there is both a heaven and a hell. 
Faith now becomes to me " the evidence of things 
not seen." The clouds that rest upon my future 
prospects all vanish. Eternity appears to me not 
as a dream, but as a reality. The thousands who 
have passed away from this state of probation, I 
believe are all this moment in a state of conscious 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 



227 



existence — are all this moment in happiness or 
misery. I look up, and behold there an innumera- 
ble company, rejoicing in the life-giving presence 
of God and the Lamb. I look down, and I see 
there multitudes who lived and died unredeemed, 
who are now victims of eternal remorse and despair. 
I now feel that I must soon enter the world of 
spirits myself. Believing, as I do, that I am one 
of God's redeemed people, I see laid up for me a 
crown of glory that fadeth not away, The swell- 
ing flood lies before me, separating me from my 
blissful home. But I look not at that ; I look be- 
yond it ; I look to the land of promise ; I look to 
the fields of pleasure in the paradise of God; I 
look to the river of life that flows from the eternal 
throne, and I expect in a little while to enjoy all 
that God has promised me, to be freed from sin 
and sorrow, to mingle w T ith the society of the holy 
and the blessed, and to be exalted to the highest 
perfection and bliss in the kingdom of my Father 
forever. It is in prospect of this felicity that I 
now endure the cross, and despise the shame ; for 
" I reckon that the sufferings of this present time 
are not worthy to be compared with the glory 
which shall be revealed in us." 

But this is not all. The same faith that pro- 
duces in my mind the conviction that there is a 
heaven, produces also the conviction that there is 



228 FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 

a hell. I have seen neither. I have never beheld 
the redeemed in glory, nor the lost in despair; 
yet on the simple testimony of God's word, I am 
persuaded that they are there. It is not neces- 
sary that a spirit should come from the dead, and 
assure me that there is a world of torment. God 
has said it, and that is enough. Relying on the 
declaration, "the wicked shall be turned into 
hell," the future misery of all who have left this 
world impenitent and unpardoned, now becomes, 
in my view, an awful fact. It is not mere theory 
with me — not a mere notion of the head — not a 
cold, unfeeling assent to the doctrine of future 
punishment. No — it is a living, influential faith. 
The pit lies fully open before me. I behold its 
lurid flames. I hear the shrieks of the doomed, 
and as I behold one and another, plunging into the 
fearful abyss, my heart is moved within me, and 
in the agony of prayer I cry, " Save, 0 God, save 
the souls that are perishing in sin !" I look upon 
the world in the light of eternity. I behold the 
short course of the sinner s triumph terminating 
in eternal and unmingled wretchedness. Every 
where I see men in vast crowds pressing on to 
destruction. Among my own kindred I see those 
who are yet children of wrath, and heirs of perdi- 
tion. My soul is convulsed within me, and had I 
a thousand lives, I feel that I could sacrifice them 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 



229 



all, could I but be the instrument of their sal- 
vation. 

" My God I feel the mournful scene, 
My bowels yearn o'er dying men ; 
And fain my pity would reclaim, 
And snatch the fire-brands from the flame/' 

We may also consider this faith in reference to 
the final triumph and extension of the Saviour s king- 
dom. The world, at present, may be regarded as 
a moral wilderness, over which Christian sympa- 
thy may well pour forth her tears of anguish. 
How r many nations are yet enveloped in midnight 
darkness, ignorant of the only true God, and de- 
graded by the most abominable systems and prac- 
tices. Even w T here the light of Christianity has 
penetrated, that light, in many places, has been 
almost entirely obscured by the clouds of igno- 
rance and error ; and instead of the pure and be- 
nign religion of the cross, we behold but little else 
than unmeaning forms and ceremonies. The way 
of life is indeed narrow, and few there be that 
find it. Shall this state of things continue always ? 
Is our world never to be disenthralled from the 
bondage of sin, and set into the glorious liberty of 
the sons of God ? I firmly believe that a brighter 
and better day is at hand — a day in which God 
will make bare his arm among all nations, and all 
flesh shall see his salvation — a day in which every 

20 



230 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 



form of error, superstition, oppression and iniquity 
shall cease, and in which " the truth as it is in 
Jesus/' shall everywhere prove triumphant. Upon 
what does my assurance rest ? Upon external 
aspects ? Upon " the signs of the times ?" To 
these I may not be inattentive. With joy I may 
hail every indication of advance and improvement ; 
but my confidence is based not on events prosper- 
ous or adverse—appearances favorable or unfavor- 
able ; it rests on the ivord of God. The mouth of 
the Lord hath said it, and he will do it, He has 
promised to his Son u the heathen for his inherit- 
ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his 
possession." Here, then, I take my stand. All 
around me may be darkness. The nations may 
be convulsed — truth may be crushed — the lips of 
the witnesses may be silenced — the blood of mar- 
tyrs may flow — iniquity may every where abound ; 
even the Church may fall into a state of criminal 
apathy. But few may be " grieved for the afflic- 
tion of Joseph." or manifest any becoming solici- 
tude for the cause of God. Some in whom we 
once trusted, may disappoint our hopes, and return 
to the world ; the love of many may wax cold, and 
truth and righteousness may appear to have almost 
perished from the earth. Still, faith discerns the 
approach of better times. It looks away from 
man ; it looks away from the world, and even from 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 231 

the church, and fixes its eye alone upon God, upon 
his Almighty power, his immutable purpose, his 
gracious promise, and it says, " It shall be done. 
With him all things are possible. He can work 
and nothing hinder. His word is eternal truth. 
The Lord of hosts is with us, the Grod of Jacob is 
our refuge." 

Such is the nature, such the effect of faith. No 
principle is more powerful. It has done what no- 
thing else can do. It has prompted to efforts the 
most vigorous ; it has led to sacrifices the most 
noble ; it has triumphed over opposition the most 
formidable ; it has overcome difficulties apparently 
insurmountable ; it has endured hardships and suf- 
ferings which to feeble humanity would have 
been utterly intolerable. We read of those who 
" through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righte- 
ousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of 
lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the 
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made 
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the 
armies of the aliens. Women received their dead 
raised to life again; and others were tortured, not 
accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a 
better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel 
mockings, and scourging, yea, moreover, of bonds 
and imprisonment : they were stoned, they were 
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the 



232 FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 



sword, they wandered about in sheep-skins and 
goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of 
whom the world was not worthy) ; they wandered 
in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and 
caves of the earth." Heb. xi. 33-36. 

And what faith did for these ancient worthies, it 
can do still. Behold the Christian oppressed with 
accumulated afflictions and trials, sorrowful, yet 
always rejoicing ; perplexed, but not in despair ; 
cast clown, but not destroyed ; groaning, yet not 
complaining ; calmly and patiently resigning him- 
self to the divine will, and exclaiming, " It is the 
Lord, let him do as seemeth him good." And 
what is the secret of all this ? It is faith. 

" His hand, the good man fastens to the skies, 
Then bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl." 

At length he enters upon his conflict with the 
last enemy. His flesh and his heart fail. The 
world recedes and disappears from his view. Weep- 
ing friends watch with unutterable emotions the 
last flickering of life — a boundless eternity opens 
upon his prospect — but even here he triumphs. 
The sting of death is gone, the future is irradiated 
with glory, and with the certain expectation of 
rising from his couch of languishing and suffering 
to life and bliss, he calmly yields himself to hea- 
ven's summons. And how^ is it that he thus con- 
quers ? The answer again is — by faith. 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 233 

" Faith builds a bridge across the gulf of death ; 
Death's terrors is the mountain faith removes/' 

The highest source of evidence to man is faith. 
There is the evidence of sense — the evidence of 
reason; but superior to both is the evidence of 
faith. I say superior, because it extends far be- 
yond them ; it reaches forward to futurity ; it un- 
veils to our view a new world, and realizes objects 
and events which are connected with man's most 
sacred interests. Faith in the divine testimony 
also affords a surer test of character. It displays 
a far higher degree of virtue than reliance upon 
mere external manifestations ; and is, therefore, 
better adapted to our present circumstances as 
creatures in a state of probation and discipline. 
Infidels may call this confidence in the word of 
God, credulity and superstition ; yet nothing can 
be more rational. Faith is not opposed to reason, 
but where reason ends, there faith comes to our 
help. Believing a thing to be true, does not, in- 
deed, make it true ; yet when a thing is once es- 
tablished by credible testimony, it is just as un- 
reasonable to doubt its truth, supported as it is by 
such testimony, as it would be to credit it without 
that testimony. A child relying with confidence 
upon the testimony of its father, has the same 
conviction of the truth of the promise as if it had 
already been fulfilled. Men act with as much 

20* 



234 FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 

promptness and assurance upon the testimony of 
each other, as they do in view of the evidence of 
their senses, or the clearest demonstration. Our 
secular business is carried on, to a great extent, 
on the principle of credit. Our ordinary inter- 
course is regulated in a great measure by faith. 
Let men once cease to have confidence in each 
other, and all social intercourse is at an end. And 
why should not the same principle be carried into 
religion ? Why should we be more ready to credit 
the testimony of man, than to credit the testimony 
of God ? On whose word can we rely if not on 
his ? To the Christian, even the deductions of 
reason, the evidence of sight, or the most sacred 
pledges of his fellow-men, cannot carry with them 
the conviction which results from the word of the 
living God. He has never seen heaven— never 
seen hell — never seen the Saviour — never seen 
the dead bursting from the tomb, or the Judge 
seated upon his throne ; yet the revelation which 
God has made of these things, establishes their 
reality without a single question. 

Let me now inquire, my hearers, Have you all 
this faith ? I ask not whether you asse?it to the 
truths of the Bible. I ask not whether you pro- 
fess to have embraced these truths; but I ask, do 
they exert upon you their legitimate influence ? 
Do you live as " seeing him who is invisible ?" Do 



FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 235 

you rejoice in an unseen Saviour? Do you act as 
though heaven and hell were realities ? Can you 
adopt the language of the Apostle, u We walk by 
faith, not by sight. The life which I now live in 
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. 
We look not at the things which are seen, but at 
the things which are not seen; for the things 
which are seen are temporal, but the things which 
are not seen are eternal ?" 

A man believes the declarations of the Bible no 
farther than he is affected by them ; and if this be 
the proper test of faith, where is it to be found ? 
Where in the church- — where in the world ? Were 
some one now to inform you that your dwelling is 
on fire, you would act in the case just according to 
the confidence you placed in the testimony. If 
that testimony were wholly discredited, it would, 
of course, leave you unmoved. If you regarded 
it as doubtful, it might awaken some degree of so- 
licitude, but would probably prompt to no decided 
action. No sooner, however, do you give it your 
full credence, than }^ou are thrilled with emotion, 
and hasten to save your property. Why, then, my 
hearer, are you not affected by the declarations of 
God respecting the doom of the impenitent ? Why. 
when he has said that " upon the wicked he will 
rain snares, fire, and brimstone," are you not 
alarmed ? Why are not all in this house, who are 



236 FAITH DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. 

yet without hope in Christ, crying out with one 
voice, u What must we do to be saved ?" Your se- 
curity is the result of your unbelief. You do not 
seriously credit the warnings of the Almighty. 
You do not believe that he is in earnest. You 
hope, in some way, to escape his threatened judg- 
ments. It is this unbelief that will prove your 
ruin. It blinds you to your danger, and leads you 
to repose in imagined security until the day of re- 
prieve closes, and your " destruction comes like a 
whirlwind." 

Will you now believe ? Why not ? Is not God 
entitled to your confidence ? Do you ask for an- 
other revelation ? Will you wait until the great 
realities of eternity are presented to you in actual 
vision ? Will you wait until you see the Son of 
God coming in the clouds of heaven, and hear the 
blast of the Archangel's trumpet summoning you 
to judgment ? Must you see the Saviour on the 
cross ? Must you be assured by an audible voice 
of his power and willingness to save? Away now 
with your unbelief and doubts. If you receive 
the witness of man, the witness of God is greater. 
u He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
life ; he that believeth not the Son, shall not see 
life, but the wrath of God abideth upon him." 



SERMON XII. 



THE CONNECTION BETWEEN DIVINE AND HUMAN 
AGENCY IN THE WORK OF SALVATION. 

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which 
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. — Phi- 
lippians, ii. 12, 13. 

Of all the primitive churches,, none appear to 
have been in a state of greater purity than the 
Philippian. We do not find a single charge pre- 
ferred against its members. On the contrary, 
their work of faith and labor of love are commended 
by the Apostle in the highest terms. Their piety 
was remarkable for its uniformity. They mani- 
fested obedience to the gospel, not merely in the 
Apostle's presence, but also in his absence. Still, 
he deemed it necessary that they should be ex- 
horted to perseverance. Their salvation could be 
completed only by the exercise of the same solici- 
tude and diligence with which it had been com- 
menced. 

It is a frequent but just remark, that truth com- 
monly lies between extremes. The remark is 
particularly applicable to the conflicting views 



238 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



which have prevailed respecting human and divine 
agency. Some carry their notions of divine agency 
so far as to run into downright fatalism. Thev 
make man a mere machine, and annihilate all moral 
responsibility. On the other hand, there are some 
who, in their zeal to maintain the freedom of the 
creature, overlook or depreciate the agency of the 
Creator. Both these extremes are injurious, and 
should be carefully avoided. The happy medium 
is to be found in the perfect harmony between the 
agency of God and the agency of man. Such is 
the subject presented for our consideration in the 
text. 

I. Let us attend, in the first place, to the agency 
of God in the work of human salvation. " It is God 
that worketh in you both to will and to do of his 
good pleasure." Not only did salvation originate 
with him ; it is also communicated by him. As 
he purchased it, so he also applies it. On this 
point the Scriptures are full and explicit. They 
teach us, in the most positive terms, that man is 
dependent on God for all things, not only for tem- 
poral but for spiritual blessings. It is " in him 
we live, and move, and have our being." "The 
preparation of the heart and the answer of the 
tongue are from the Lord." " We are not suffi- 
cient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves. 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



239 



but our sufficiency is of God/' " His divine power 
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto 
life and godliness." "No man/' says Jesus, "can 
come unto me except the Father draw him. With- 
out me ye can do nothing." 

Such are the general terms in which the Scrip- 
tures exhibit human dependence. But they do 
not stop here. 

The work of regeneration or conversion we find 
expressly ascribed to God, as its efficient or pri- 
mary cause. "A new heart will I give you, and 
a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take 
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and give 
you a heart of flesh. Which were born not of blood, 
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, 
but of God. We are his workmanship, created 
in Christ Jesus unto good works. You hath he 
quickened who were dead in trespasses and in 
sins," " Surely," said Ephraim, " after that I was 
turned I repented. Turn thou me, and I shall be 
turned.'' 

We find, moreover, that each particular grace 
or holy exercise is ascribed to divine efficiency. " The 
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffer- 
ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temper- 
ance. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts 
by the Holy Ghost given unto us. Then hath 
God granted repentance unto life. To you it is 



240 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe 
on him, but also to suffer for his sake." Faith is 
called " the operation of God." The Ephesians 
are represented as having believed " according to 
his mighty power." 

And as the commencement of the Christian life 
is ascribed to God, so also is its progress and con- 
summation. " Being confident of this very thing, 
that he which hath begun a good work in you, will 
perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." "Who 
are kept by the power of God through faith unto 
salvation;" "working in you that which is well- 
pleasing in his sight." 

And what is the language of prayer but the ex- 
pression of dependence ? Why do we present our 
petitions to God, but because our wants can be 
supplied alone by him ? It is thus, whether we 
pray for temporal or spiritual favors. " Create in 
me," cried the Psalmist, "0 God, a clean heart, 
and renew within me a right spirit." 

The fact of human dependence cannot, then, be 
questioned. But what is the nature of that work 
which God performs in regeneration, or in the pro- 
duction of holiness ? According to the text, he 
"ivories in us to will and to do of his good pleasure? 
This is all that is requisite to accomplish the result. 
We need no new soul — no new faculties — no new 
revelation ; we need simply to be made willing to 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



241 



do that to which the heart is naturally disinclined — 
willing to consider our ways, turn from our sins, 
renounce our self-dependence, accept the offer of 
salvation through Christ, and devote ourselves to 
his service and kingdom. Mind never can be 
forced. Coerce the will, and it ceases to be will, 
the laws of our mental constitution are suspended, 
and all moral freedom and accountability is de- 
stroyed. Men sin not from compulsion, but from 
choice, and they are just as voluntary in forsaking 
it as in committing it — as voluntary in their sub- 
mission to God as in their rebellion against him. 

Willing and doing, let it be observed, are insep- 
arable. When a sinner is willing to obey God, he 
always does obey him ; so that the proper test of 
his willingness is his actual obedience. The im- 
penitent may desire to be saved, but they are cer- 
tainly not willing to be saved ; for the promise is, 
that the willing and obedient shall eat the good of 
the land. No sooner does the heart consent to 
accept salvation on the terms of the gospel, than 
every obstacle is at once and effectually removed. 

But how does God ivork in men to ivill and to do t 
There are but two modes in which w 7 e can conceive 
this to be done. The one is by a physical, the 
other by a moral power. Let us carefully mark 
the distinction. Physical power is a direct and 

21 



242 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



immediate exertion of Omnipotence, the power by 
which this world was originally brought into being, 
and by which it is upheld in its present order and 
harmony, the power by which miraculous effects 
were produced, the sick were healed, and the dead 
restored to life. 

Moral power is the power of truth, of argument, 
of motive, of persuasion. When you seize hold 
of your child, and by your superior muscular 
strength, pull him away from some impending 
danger, it is an exertion of physical power ; but 
when you prevail with him to escape by motives, 
when you point out to him his exposure, and urge 
him to exercise his own free agency, his preserva- 
tion, in this case, would be the result of moral 
power. 

Now, we maintain that it is by an agency of 
this kind, and not by a mere exertion of Omnipo- 
tence that God effects the regeneration of the 
soul. 

This might be shown from the very nature and 
constitution of the human mind. Mind can act only 
in view of motives. If a man chooses, there must 
be certain reasons that determine his choice. The 
will, according to Edwards, is always influenced 
by the greatest apparent good. Conversion is a 
voluntary change from sin to holiness, a change 
which is effected in view of appropriate truth. 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



243 



There is one kind of agency which is adapted to 
unintelligent matter ; another which is adapted to 
responsible mind. The planets, for example, are 
moved in their orbits, not by moral but by physi- 
cal law ; not by the law of the ten commandments, 
but by force. It is not thus, however, that God 
governs mind. However entire may be his con- 
trol over it, he has so constituted it that it acts 
freely, acts in view of motives. " God hath en- 
dued the will of man with that natural liberty, 
that it is neither forced, nor by any absolute neces- 
sity of nature determined to good or evil. — Pm- 
hyterian Confession^ ix. 9. 

If we consult the Scriptures on this subject, we 
find that they expressly ascribe the conversion of 
the soul to the power of God, exerted through the 
instrumentality of truth. u The sword of the Spirit 
is the word of God. The law of the Lord is per- 
fect, converting the soul. Of his own will begat he 
us by the word of truth." Hence, the appoint- 
ment of the Christian ministry, as the grand in- 
strumentality of bringing gospel truth before the 
minds of men, and pressing them to the acceptance 
of its overtures. Knowing the terror of the Lord, 
we persuade men — compelling them to come in — 
praying them in Christ's stead to be reconciled to 
God. The influence of the Spirit in convincing, 
regenerating, and sanctifying men, is ordinarily 



244 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



connected with the publication of the gospel. 
" How shall they believe in him of whom they have 
not heard, and how shall they hear without a 
preacher ?" 

The precise manner in which the Spirit applies 
the truth to the heart, so as to overcome its deep- 
seated opposition to holiness, we do not pretend 
to determine. We have only to do with the fact 
as affirmed in the sacred scriptures ; the explana- 
tion of the fact is a point with which we have no 
particular concern. We dare not, however, limit 
the divine agency. God can accomplish by the 
truth what man cannot. He has made the mind, 
and he knows how to get access to it. To him all 
the avenues of the heart are open, and he can reach 
it by such influences as he has wisely appointed, 
and as are best adapted to accomplish the end. 
He can present the truth in all its reality and im- 
portance. He can cause it not only to be under- 
stood, hut felt. He can awaken thought, and bring 
into activity all the powers and susceptibilities of 
the human soul — dispersing its darkness, removing 
its prejudices, silencing its objections, overcoming 
its resistance, and sweetly inclining it to accept 
the offers of divine mercy. 

His influence always accords with the constitu- 
tion or laws of man's intelligent and moral nature. 
That influence cannot become a matter of consci- 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



245 



ousness but from its effects, no more than the in- 
fluence by which our natural life is sustained, or 
our ordinary actions are directed. If I move my 
hand, it is God who moves it ; and yet at the time, 
I am conscious of no agency enabling me to do it 
save my own. It is thus, too, with our spiritual 
exercises. We know that God is working in us to 
will and to do, only by our willing and doing. Our 
consciousness relates solely to the operation of our 
own minds. 

II. Having contemplated the agency of God, let 
us now consider the agency of man. In our text 
the two are closely connected. Whatever God 
does in the work of human salvation, can never 
supersede the necessity of the vigorous efforts of 
man. "Workout your own salvation with fear 
and trembling." 

The necessity of human exertion may be in- 
ferred from the divine commands. Those very exer- 
cises which, in the Bible, are ascribed to God, are 
also made a matter of human obligation. Is a new 
heart said to be the gift of God ? the sinner is also 
commanded to make himself a new heart. Is the 
love of God shed abroad within us by the Holy 
Spirit ? we are also commanded to love the Lord 
our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and 
strength. Does God grant repentance unto life ? 

21* 



246 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



he also commands all men every where to repent. 
Is faith " the operation of God ?" This is also his 
commandment that we believe on his Son Jesus 
Christ. All the Christian virtues which are repre- 
sented as " the fruit of the Spirit/' are also enjoined 
as Christian duties. " Giving all diligence, add to 
your faith, virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and 
to knowledge, temperance ; and to temperance, pa- 
tience ; and to patience, godliness ; and to godli- 
ness, brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kind- 
ness, charity." 

All such commands plainly regard men as capa- 
ble of moral action, as acting freely, and as respon- 
sible for their conduct. Conversion is nothing 
more than an actual compliance with the requisi- 
tions of the gospel. 

Again ; the nature of mans dependence upon the 
agency of the Spirit is such as cannot in the least 
diminish human obligation. It is a dependence 
growing entirely out of his perverseness, or his 
voluntary and desperate depravity. Nothing hin- 
ders him from obeying God but his unwillingness, 
and the special influence of the Spirit is needed- 
only to overcome this indisposition. Because the 
sinner has lost his disposition to obey, God has 
certainly not lost his right to command. Your 
obligation is founded, not upon the state of your 
hearts, whether holy or sinful, but upon the rela- 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



247 



tion you sustain to God as the subjects of his 
moral government, and the moral constitution with 
which, as such, you are endowed. Were Gabriel 
this moment to become a rebel against the throne 
of heaven, the same law that binds him in his 
state of innocency would bind him in his state of 
apostacy. The responsibility of devils remains 
unchanged. The fact that they are sinners can 
never release them from the obligation to be holy. 
Where there is no responsibility there can be no 
guilt or criminality. The fall of Adam left his 
accountability unimpaired. Though he lost his 
integrity, he lost not his free agency. 

We are dependent on God as his creatures. Our 
breath is in his hands, and in him are all our ways. 
This dependence, however, can never release us 
from the obligation and necessity of using appro- 
priate means. If our temporal blessings come 
from God, they ordinarily come to us only in a 
certain way. We are not only recipients, but 
agents. Human dependence and human obliga- 
tion and activity are here in perfect harmony. 

As sinners, w r e are dependent on God for our 
spiritual blessings ; but that dependence, instead 
of affording a plea for indolence, should tend only 
to humiliation, and furnish a more powerful stimu- 
lus to prayer and exertion. 

Divine agency is rendered effectual only by calling 



248 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



into requisition human agency. God works in man, 
not as you work upon a block or a stone, but as a 
voluntary agent- — works in him by leading him to 
work, or, as it is expressed in the text, works in him 
to will and to do of his good pleasure. The effectual 
operation of the Spirit always results in arousing 
the sinner to action himself. So far from waiting 
to be operated upon as a mere machine, his active 
powers are called into the most vigorous exercise. 
He presses into the kingdom of God — strives to 
enter in at the strait gate— works out his salva- 
tion with fear and trembling. " Draw me," says 
the redeemed sinner, " and I will run after thee." 

And this is in perfect accordance with the experi- 
ence of all true Christians. While they gratefully 
acknowledge that it is by the grace of God that 
they are what they are, they are not conscious of 
the least coercion. God turned them, and they 
turned. They acted as freely as though they 
acted entirely independent of him. They saw the 
evil of sin and repented of it. They saw that God 
was glorious, and their hearts were drawn towards 
him in admiration and praise. They saw that Christ 
was an all-sufficient Saviour, and they fled to him 
as their refuge. Their surrender to God was not 
only voluntary, but cordial. They yielded them- 
selves to him as their "most reasonable service," 
"choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 249 

of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a 
season." For the truth of these assertions I need 
only appeal to the experience of each Christian 
present. Go back to the memorable moment of 
your translation from a state of nature to a state 
of grace. Was your submission to Christ the 
result of compulsion, or of choice? Never did you 
act more freely than at that blessed period when 
you could say, " My beloved is mine and I am 
his." 

" Welcome, welcome, dear Redeemer, 
Welcome to this heart of mine ; 
Lord, I make a full surrender, 

Every power and thought be thine ; 

Thine entirely, 
Through eternal ages thine \" 

And as you acted freely when you first gave 
yourself to God. so have you been equally free in 
all your subsequent course. The process of sancti- 
fication has been carried forward as it was com- 
menced, not independently of God, but by his 
grace working in you to will and to do, thus ena- 
bling you to maintain the beginning of your con- 
fidence steadfast unto the present hour. 

REMARKS. 

1. How evident it is, from the view which has 
now been presented, that between human dependence 



250 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



and human activity there exists the most entire har- 
mony. Both are doctrines of the Bible, and to each 
should be given its proper place and application. 
We may not be able fully to explain or compre- 
hend their connection, but that, surely, can afford 
no reason why we should reject the facts in the 
case. It is one thing; for a doctrine to be myste- 
rious ; another for it to be contradictory. Our 
dependence and obligation as creatures, in refer- 
ence to the preservation of human life, are also in- 
explicable, and yet no one, on that account, would 
think of denying either. Why, then, should we 
have any difficulty with the connection between 
human and divine agency in the work of salvation ? 
Neither of these doctrines can be dispensed with. 
To dwell exclusively upon either would destroy 
the harmony of the Christian system, and would 
be attended with results the most pernicious. To 
exhibit merely the agency of God, would tend to 
annihilate all responsibility, and lull the conscience 
into fatal security. On the other hand, to hold up 
to view merely human freedom and obligation, 
would derogate from the divine glory, and foster 
a spirit of pride and self-sufficiency. The consist- 
ent and harmonious presentation of these two ap- 
parently conflicting truths, constitutes one of the 
most difficult, yet most important points of minis- 
terial duty. 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



251 



2. We remark further : IIozv eminently is this 
subject calculated to call forth the devout gratitude 
of the renewed heart. It traces all our salvation to 
the grace of God, and as its original source. What 
but this, Christian, has made you to differ from 
others ? Were you by nature any better than 
those who are estranged from God ? By nature 
we were all the children of wrath, even as others 
— dead in trespasses and in sins — alienated from 
God, and the life that is of God. Had you, then, 
any more claim on the divine regard ? Alas ! 
you had forfeited everything, and merited from 
the hand of justice only unmixed evil. Not 
by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to his mercy he hath saved us, by 
the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of 
the Holy Ghost. God who is rich in mercy, for 
his great love wherewith he loved us, even when 
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together 
with Christ. By grace ye are saved." 

" What am I, 0 ! thou glorious God ! 
That thou such mercies hast bestowed 
On me — the vilest reptile — me ! 
Me in my blood thy love passed by, 
And stopped my ruin to retrieve ; 
Wept o'er my soul, thy pitying eye, 
Thy bowels ycarn'd — and sounded ' Live/ 
Dying, I heard the welcome sound, 
And pardon in thy mercy found/' 



252 



DIVINE AND 



HUMAN 



AGENCY. 



3. Let us learn also from this subject, the im- 
portance of Christian vigilance. The exhortation 
in the text, though it may be addressed to men 
universally, had immediate reference to professed 
Christians, to those whom the Apostle designates 
as " saints in Christ Jesus," in whom God had 
" begun a good work," and w T ho had been distin- 
guished for their devoted and exemplary piety. 
And yet, regenerated as they were — pardoned as 
they were — heirs of eternal life as they were — 
there was still occasion for the most unremitted 
diligence — "Work out your own salvation" &c. 

Similar injunctions addressed to the people of 
God, abound in the sacred Scriptures. " Giving 
all diligence, make your calling and election sure." 
" Be not slothful, but followers of them, who, 
through faith and patience, inherit the promises." 
" We desire that every one of you do show the 
same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto 
the end." 

It was the advice of President Edwards to a 
young Christian, " Keep up as great a strife and 
earnestness in religion, as if you knew yourself to 
be in a state of nature, and were seeking conver- 
sion." There is just as much necessity for vigi- 
lance on the part of the Christian, as there is on 
the part of the awakened and inquiring sinner. 
All along our path to heaven we are beset with 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



253 



difficulties and dangers ; and we are secure only 
when upheld by the hand of Omnipotence. While 
we rejoice, it should ever be " with trembling/' 
^ Be not high-minded, but fear." "Let us fear, 
lest a promise being left us of entering into his 
rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." 

Whatever may be our attainments, there still 
remains ample room for progress. The prize is 
still before us ; let us press our way onward until 
we attain the fullness of salvation in Christ Jesus. 
Make not your dependence on God a plea for in- 
dolence. Divine influence furnishes the motive 
and encouragement to human activity. If our 
strength is in God, let us then look to him in the 
use of the appointed means. God helps those who 
try to help themselves. 

4. Let me yet add : miners must work out their 
salvation or perish. I do not say that you must 
work out a righteousness of your own in which 
you may stand accepted before God. That is not 
demanded — not needed. The atonement of Christ 
is complete, and the offer of salvation entirely gra- 
tuitous. Still, you cannot be saved without an 
effort. Something must be done, and done speedily. 
It will not do to sit still, and wait to be operated 
upon in a state of mere passivity. " The kingdom 
of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take 
it by force." Yes, my hearer, you have a work to 

22 



254 



DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY. 



do — a work of infinite moment — a work on which 
is suspended your interests for immortality. You 
have no time to lose. Your day of grace is fast 
passing away, and the opportunity of salvation 
will soon close forever. Oh, begin now. Think 
of the mighty interest at stake- — your salvation — 
your own salvation ! Well may you enter upon 
the work " with fear and trembling." There is 
great danger of failure. The obstacles that stand 
in your way to heaven are numerous and formid- 
able ; and every day those obstacles are increas- 
ing. Work, then, for your life. It may cost you 
an effort if you would be saved ; but will it not 
also cost you one to be lost ? If you refuse to 
work out your salvation, you must work out your 
damnation. If you will not lay up treasure in 
heaven, you must treasure up to yourself wrath 
against the day of wrath, and the revelation of 
the righteous judgment of God. 



SERMON XIII. 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 

He that helieveth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. — 
1 John y. 10. 

The religion of the gospel comes to us with evi- 
dence of its divinity the most abundant and con- 
clusive. When we open the Bible., we find im- 
pressed on its every page the marks of a divine 
hand. Its contents are just such as might be ex- 
pected in a book emanating from Heaven. The 
truth which it reveals in reference to God and 
man ; in reference to our ruin as sinners, and our 
redemption through Christ; in reference to this 
world and the next, carries with it, to every un- 
prejudiced mind, the conviction that it is the truth 
of God. There, too, is what is denominated the 
external or historical evidence, consisting in the 
performance of the most notable miracles, the ful- 
fillment of the most remarkable prophecies, and a 
train of concurring events, from one period to an- 
other, down to the present age. 

But in addition to these sources of evidence, 
there is exhibited in our text a third ; namely, 



256 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 



the evidence of experience or consciousness, result- 
ing from the actual influence of the gospel on all 
who truly embrace it. " He that believeth on the 
Son of God hath the witness in himself." We 
know that the gospel is true, because it accom- 
plishes in us the benevolent design which it pro- 
poses. Its effects are such as none but a religion 
of celestial birth could produce. No other system 
of religion has been known to produce such effects ; 
and as every effect must have an adequate cause, 
we infer that a religion that can thus meet all the 
wants of our nature, a religion that can confer 
upon us such exalted privileges, must have had 
its origin, not with man, but with infinite wisdom 
and benevolence. 

I. I remark that the representation which the 
Scriptures give of the sinful, ruined, and perishing 
condition of man, is fully corroborated by the in- 
ternal experience and consciousness of every true- 
believer. It is upon this doctrine that the whole 
scheme of redemption is founded. The doctrine, 
indeed, is not one peculiar to revelation. Reason 
itself, the testimony of conscience, the general his- 
tory of the world, and the physical evils which 
everywhere abound, clearly testify that man is a 
sinner, and under condemnation. The Scriptures 
only reiterate and confirm this testimony. They 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 257 

trace the depravity of man to its original source, 
describe its malignancy, and expose its fearful 
consequences. They exhibit this depravity as 
total, universal, and desperate. They teach us that 
" all have sinned and come short of the glory of 
God" — that " the heart of the sons of men is full 
of evil" and that we are utterly " without strength" 
to recover ourselves from our deep apostacy, or 
satisfy the claims of the law under whose penalty 
we lie. 

Now, humiliating and alarming as this repre- 
sentation of man's moral condition may be, every 
Christian has the fullest conviction of its truth. 
Whatever objections may be urged against the 
scriptural view of man's total alienation from God, 
to the mind truly enlightened by divine grace, no 
doctrine is invested with more solemn reality and 
importance. The Holy Spirit has convinced the 
believer of sin— not of sin in general, sin in the 
abstract, but of his own particular sinfulness. In 
the light of God's law he has seen himself as cov- 
ered with moral defilement, and as righteously 
condemned to death eternal. With Job he is 
ready to exclaim, " Behold I am vile !" with the 
Psalmist, " Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and 
in sin did my mother conceive me !" with Paul, 
" I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth 
no good thing." 

22* 



258 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 



On this point there is, among all true Christians, 
a remarkable unanimity. All speak the same lan- 
guage, all make the same confessions, all are the 
subjects of the same experience. Find them 
where you may, all agree that by nature they 
were dead in sin, and that spiritual life is the fruit 
of grace alone. 

" When Mr. Occam, the Indian preacher, was 
in England, he visited Mr. Newton of London, 
and they compared experiences. ' Mr. Occam/ 
says Mr. Newton, ' in describing to me the state 
of his heart, when he was a blind idolater, gave 
me in general a striking picture of what my own 
was in the early part of my life, and his subse- 
quent views correspond with mine, as face answers 
to face, in a glass.' " 

With every believer there is a growing convic- 
tion of the corruption of human nature. The more 
he learns of the purity of the divine character, and 
the extent of the divine law, the more does he see 
of his own vileness, and his entire dependence on 
a Saviour's grace and merits. 

II. Every true believer has the witness in him- 
self of the efficacy of atoning blood, to relieve the 
burdened conscience, and restore him to the divine 
favor and friendship. The Scriptures point us to 
the sacrifice of the cross as the only effective pro- 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 2.59 

pitiation for sin and ground of man's acceptance 
with God. They assure us that " by the deeds of 
the law no flesh shall be justified;" but that, on 
the simple condition of faith alone, the penitent 
receive a free and full acquittal from the sentence 
of condemnation, and are adopted into the family 
of heaven — that " being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Now, is this a reality or is it a fiction ? What- 
ever doubts others may entertain about the matter, 
the Christian has an internal conviction of its truth. 
He has tested the power of the Gospel, and he 
consequently knows its efficacy. While he has 
felt his sins to be an intolerable burden, he has 
also felt that burden removed. He may have 
tried every other expedient that promised him 
relief, but all failed save this. He found it in the 
peace-speaking blood of Jesus, but he could find 
it nowhere else. It was a view of the great pro- 
pitiation that first inspired hope within his agitated 
bosom, and that turned his night of sorrow into 
bright and joyous day. He knows in whom he 
has believed, and is now a witness to the truth 
that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin. 
Christ has saved him; how, then, can he doubt? 
He knows that what no obedience, no merit of his 
own could ever accomplish, has been accomplished 
for him by his atoning Saviour. He has peace 



260 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 

with God, and peace within. Men may tell him 
that it is all a delusion; but you might as well 
tell a man who has been restored to health by the 
use of a certain medicine, that the medicine has 
no virtue, and that he is still pining away under 
his disease. We have tried the remedy of the 
Gospel, and we have felt its healing influence. 
We have found it precisely adapted to the malady ; 
the aching head is now at rest, the throbbing heart 
is calmed, the guilty conscience is pacified. Hea- 
ven, that once frowned with vengeance, now smiles 
with love. The dark cloud has vanished, and 
with confidence we draw nigh to God as a recon- 
ciled Father and friend, and look forward to the 
future with hopes full of immortality and glory. 

III. The believer also possesses an internal con- 
viction of the power of the Gospel to purify the heart 
and overcome the strength of human depravity. We 
need a religion that can produce in us such a spi- 
ritual renovation— a religion that can deliver us 
not only from the consequences of sin, but from 
sin itself. Every man is conscious not only of 
guilt, but also of depravity — a nature fallen, dege- 
nerate and perverse. 

Now, the Gospel directs us to a fountain open 
for sin and uncleanness. It reveals to us a method 
by which the power of sin may be broken,, and 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 261 

the heart may be purified. It furnishes us with 
influences by which those who are dead in sin 
may be quickened into spiritual life — by which 
the lost image of God may be restored, and man 
may be fitted for eternal fellowship with the great 
fountain of love and joy. 

Such is its actual effect upon all who truly avail 
themselves of the provisions of divine mercy ; and 
of this change in their character and condition 
they have the evidence of consciousness. We know 
what we were once, and we know what we are now. 
We know that we once loved sin ; we know that 
we now hate it. We know that we once turned 
away from God with disaffection ; we know that 
he is now the object of our supreme delight. We 
know that prayer was once a burden ; we know 
that it is now a pleasure. We know that we once 
clung to the world as our chief good ; we know 
that our thoughts and desires now aspire after 
things above. 

Are we deceived in regard to this change ? May 
we not be just as conscious of our feelings in refer- 
ence to the objects of religion, as we are in refer- 
ence to any other objects ? Men of the world ask, 
"How can these things be?" but we speak that 
which we do know, and testify that which we have 
seen and felt. " The Spirit itself beareth witness 
with our spirit, that we are the children of God." 



262 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 

Would that all our masters in Israel, who denounce 
the doctrine of spiritual regeneration as enthusiasm, 
would but determine its reality by actual experi- 
ment. Let them open their hearts to the influence 
of the Holy Spirit, and receive the kingdom of 
heaven as little children, and then shall they know 
the religion of the Gospel, not in its letter and 
form only, but in its spirit and power. 

Wh} r should any doubt the testimony of such 
numerous and credible witnesses, as to the power 
of the Gospel to purify from sin ? Men of every 
rank and in every situation in life, here bear the 
same testimony. Did that testimony relate to any 
other matter, it would at once be received with 
full confidence. Why, then, reject it when it re- 
lates to the subject of religion ? Take the case of 
John Newton, once a wretched profligate, and sub- 
sequently a most devout and exemplary believer 
in Jesus, whose sermons, correspondence, and 
poems breathe the very spirit of heaven, and 4iave 
proved the means of spiritual benefit to untold 
numbers. What but the grace of God made him 
what he was ? Did the Gospel effect no change 
in him ? Was his experience all a delusion ? His 
own epitaph, written with his own hand, tells the 
whole mystery of that wonderful transformation 
which had been effected in him by the power of 
the Gospel. " John Newton, once an infidel and 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 263 

a libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by 
the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and ap- 
pointed to preach the faith he had long labored to 
destroy." 

IV. The Christian has the same personal ex- 
perience of the truth and szveetness of the divine pro- 
mises, God has given to us " exceedingly great 
and precious promises," — promises that relate to the 
life that now is, and to the life that is to come — 
promises of temporal and of spiritual good — pro- 
mises adapted to every age and every condition — 
promises of pardon to the guilty, cleansing to the 
polluted, strength to the feeble, light to the be- 
nighted, succor to the tempted, and comfort to the 
sorrowing, — promises to the penitent, to the meek, 
to the believing, to the humble, to the liberal, to 
the merciful. Are these promises true ? May 
they be relied on with confidence ? Will God do 
as he has said ? 

Here there is but one sentiment among the faith- 
ful. They know that God is true from actual 
trial. They have proved his faithfulness, and how, 
then, can they question it ? During a long pil- 
grimage many of them have rested on his word, and 
they have found it an immovable rock. Not one 
thing hath failed of all the good things which the 



264 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY, 

Lord their God hath spoken concerning them. 
Often, indeed, may their faith have been put to 
the test. The fulfillment of the divine promises 
may have been long delayed, and unbelief may 
have suggested that the Lord had forgotten to be 
gracious. Dark providences may have hedged up 
their way, or beclouded their prospects ; but their 
hopes have never been disappointed, and their 
grateful testimony is, that c,/ the Lord hath done 
all things well." 

" The gospel bears their spirits up, 

A faithful and unchanging God 
Lays the foundation of their hope, 

In oaths, and promises, and blood." 

V, In this connection, we may refer also to the 
efficacy of prayer, as another subject of Christian 
experience. " The effectual fervent prayer of a 
righteous man availeth much." The God of the 
Bible has revealed himself as the hearer of prayer. 
It abounds with the most gracious assurances of 
answer to prayer, and furnishes us also with numer- 
our instances of the power of prayer. 

All this, however, has, upon the unbelieving 
multitude, no practical influence. They restrain 
prayer before God, among other reasons, because 
they doubt its efficacy and utility. " What pro- 
fit/' they ask, " should we have, if we pray unto 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 265 

Him ?" And as they have no hope of receiving, 
it is not much wonder that they decline asking. 

But there are those who have put this matter to 
the test, and from their own blessed experience 
are prepared to acknowledge, " It is good for us 
to draw nigh to God." How often in answer to 
prayer has the cloud dispersed, and the sun of 
righteousness risen upon them with healing in his 
wings. How often when the enemy has come in 
like a flood, has the Spirit of the Lord raised up a 
standard ; how often when grace has been ready 
to die, and hope to languish, have they repaired 
to the throne of mercy, and have been quickened 
into new life and joy ; how often when Zion has 
been in a state of desolation, and when truth and 
righteousness seemed ready to perish, has the 
wilderness again been made to bud and blossom, 
and the cause of God been carried forward with 
fresh triumph. What Christian cannot tell of some 
signal answers to prayer ? What Christian is not 
fully convinced of the efficacy of prayer ? What 
Christian could be induced to forego the privilege 
of prayer ? Who that has prayed in faith, has 
prayed in vain ? u I cried unto God with my 
voice, even unto God with my voice, and he gave 
ear unto me. I waited patiently for the Lord, and 
he inclined unto me, and heard my cry/' The 
Psalmist's experience was not peculiar. With 

23 



266 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 

what a great cloud of witnesses are we surrounded, 
to testify to the effect of prayer. And what prayer 
did in former days, it can do still. It has lost 
none of its marvellous power. The day in which 
we live, as well as days of old, can tell of the ex- 
ploits of prayer. Witness after witness might be 
cited, who, with one voice, would furnish their 
clear and decided testimony that prayer still 
"moves the hand that moves the world." It was 
once said of the late Dr. Nelson, that there was 
apparently " no roof above him, no sky, no stars, 
nothing to separate the supplicant from the face of 
his Father." 

It is related of Dr. Judson that, overjoyed at 
some unexpected success of his labors, he declared 
that, feeble as his faith had been, he had never 
earnestly and perseveringly prayed for any bless- 
ing but at some time, and in some way very dif- 
ferent perhaps from w r hat he had expected, it had 
been granted. 

That devoted servant of Christ, the Rev. Geo. 
Muller, the founder of an extensive orphan asylum 
at Bristol, England, an institution founded and 
sustained by prayer, remarks : "I never remem- 
ber, in all my Christian course, that I ever sin- 
cerely and patient!?/ sought to know the will of God 
by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, through the 
instrumentality of the tvord of God, but I have 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 267 

alivays been directed rightly." u When I lose such 
a thing as a key, I ask the Lord to direct me to 
it, and I look for an answer to .my prayer. When 
a person. with whom I have made an appointment 
does not come according to the fixed time, and I 
begin to be inconvenienced by it, I ask the Lord 
to be pleased to hasten him to me, and I look for 
an answer. When I do not understand a passage 
of the word of God, I lift up my heart to the Lord, 
that he w T ould be pleased by his Holy Spirit to 
instruct me, and I expect to be taught." 

All this may appear, to those who are strangers 
to the power of prayer, like mere presumption or 
childish simplicity ; but u the secret of the Lord 
is with them that fear him, and he will show them 
his covenant." 

VI. I may yet mention, as another subject of 
Christian experience, the blessedness of true religion, 
Christianity commends itself to us, not only as a 
religion of purity, but also as a religion of happi- 
ness. In his fallen state, man is a stranger to 
peace. Alienated from God, the proper centre and 
rest of his soul, he is vainly endeavoring to find 
some substitute for the loss. There is nothing 
under the sun to which he has not resorted, to fill 
the aching, melancholy void, and yet, with all that 
this world can offer, he still remains disappointed, 



268 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 

unsatisfied and unblest. Even in laughter his 
heart is sorrowful, and the end of mirth is heavi- 
ness. 

And if, in his brightest moments, he often feels 
himself thus wretched, what must be his state in 
the hour of adversity and sorrow ? Life is a scene 
of change, of bereavements, of trials. What we 
possess to-day we may be deprived of to-morrow. 
The tenderest ties may in a moment be cut asun- 
der, and our hearts may be made to bleed with 
anguish. Neither wealth, nor rank, nor wisdom, 
nor talents afford us any security from the misfor- 
tunes to which flesh is heir. The evil day awaits 
us all. 66 We all do fade as a leaf." "Man cometh 
forth as a flower and is cut down ; he fleeth also 
as a shadow, and continueth not." The grave is 
the house appointed for all the living. However 
vigorous may be our frames, they are all destined 
to corruption. " The fashion of this world passeth 
away," and all our purposes in regard to the pre- 
sent life will soon be broken and terminated for- 
ever. We all feel that we need some more dura- 
ble and satisfying portion than this world can 
offer. We are conscious of wants which it can 
never meet; we are exposed to ills under which 
it can afford no relief ; we are hastening to an end 
for which it can furnish no preparation. In our 
destitution and sadness, the gospel presents itself 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 269 

as the only antidote to our woes — the only solace 
to the disconsolate. It proffers us a peace, which 
the world can neither give nor take away. It 
promises to bind up the broken heart, to wipe 
away the falling tear, to sustain us in the hour of 
trial, and to gild the future with light and hope. 

Now the question is, can it do for us what it pro- 
poses ? Can we find in this system of grace the 
rest which we have so long and so vainly sought 
from other sources ? Can the mind here be re- 
lieved of its burdens ? Can it obtain a portion 
adequate to its desires ? 

Here, too, we have the result of experiment. 
A fair trial has been made. Persons in every condi- 
tion of life have fled to this last refuge, and in not 
a solitary instance has there been disappointment. 
The young, the gay, the rich, the noble, as well as 
the poor, the infirm and the aged, have here found 
repose. In communion with God, in a sense of 
his pardoning love, in submission to his will, in 
obedience to his commands, and in the hope of 
a blissful immortality, every desire has been satis- 
fied, every grief has been assuaged, and their 
peace has been made to flow like a river. The 
uniform testimony of all Gods servants is, that 
"in keeping his commandments there is great 
reward" — that " wisdom's ways are ways of plea- 
santness, and all her paths are paths of peace." 

23* 



270 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 

Here is a happiness, pure, elevating, perma- 
nent — a happiness inexhaustible and unimpaired 
by any external changes — a happiness which goes 
with us through life, and which remains unaffected 
even by sickness and death. 

All this is a matter of experience. The Chris- 
tian knows it to be real because he has felt it. 
He has drank at the fountain of eternal love, and 
has been satisfied. He has fled to God in the sea- 
son of adversity, and has found in him succor. 
He has taken upon him the yoke of Christ, and 
has proved it to be light. He has died trusting to 
the merits and grace of his Redeemer, and death 
has lost its bitterness, and the grave its gloom. 
We have met with Christians in all circumstances, 
not only in prosperity but in adversity, in the fires 
and in the waters, and yet we have found them 
resigned, happy, exulting. 

" He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the 
witness in himself." This evidence is the most 
satisfactory. Nothing can deprive the Christian 
of it. No sophistry can shake his confidence in a 
religion the truth of which he has himself tested. 
No persecutions, no sufferings can cause his faith 
to waver or move him from his integrity. For 
this religion he is prepared to make any sacri- 
fice ; for this he lives, and for this he is ready, like 
the apostle, to be offered up. He may be an illite- 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 271 

rate man* He may never have furnished his mind 
with the historical arguments in favor of Chris- 
tianity ; but of one thing he is convinced, that the 
gospel has done for him all that it promises. 
66 Whereas/ 5 says he, " I was once blind, now I see ; 
whereas I was once lost, I am now found." 

What more conclusive evidence does he want of 
the power of the gospel ? " The man who has 
tasted honey, as certainly knows it is sweet, as the 
chemist who has tested its properties by scientific 
analysis." It is by the same process that thou- 
sands have obtained the fullest persuasion of the 
truth of religion. They have tested its power by 
actual experienee, and they feel now that their 
feet are planted upon the eternal rock. 

" A man of subtle reasoning asked 

A peasant if he knew, 
Where was the internal evidence 5 

That proved the Bible true? 
The terms of disputative art, 

Had never reached his ear- 
He laid his hand upon his heart, 

And only answered Here." 

A scotch girl, converted under the preaching of 
Whitefield, when asked if her heart was changed, 
replied, — " Something I know is changed ; it may 
be the world $ it may be my heart; there is a great 
change somewhere I am sure, for every thing is 
different from what it once was." 



272 EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 



Oh ! that all my hearers would now come, and 
prove the efficacy of the gospel themselves. 
" Taste, and see that God is good/' 

u Oh ! that we could all invite, 

This saving truth to prove ; 
Show the length and breadth and height. 

And depth of Jesus' Love.*' 

Whatever doubts you may entertain, they may 
all be removed by personal trial. The gospel in- 
vites you to test its power. " Here," it says, " is a 
remedy for all your woes ; here is pardon for the 
guilty ; here is cleansing for the polluted ; here is 
peace for the troubled ; here is consolation for the 
afflicted ; here is support for the dying." 

Will you yield to the claims of this gospel? Will 
you accept its gracious overtures ? We assure 
you there will be no disappointment, no failure. 
Your doubts will all vanish, and that agitated mind 
will be forever at rest. " Now/*' you will be ready 
to say, " we believe, not because of thy saying, but 
because we have heard him ourselves ; and we 
know that this is the Christ, the Saviour of the 
world." 

You have tried the world, and you know what 
is its worth. A thousand times have you turned 
away from it with disappointment, and sighed, — 
"Is there no better portion for man ?" Your heart. 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 273 

it may be, is crushed with grief, but you know of 
no balm that can effectually heal the wound. Now, 
then, accept of heaven s remedy. Feed no longer 
on husks when there is bread enough in our Father's 
house, and to spare. Lean not for support upon a 
broken reed, when you may repose upon the arm 
of Omnipotence. Give your doubts to the winds, 
Away with all your unbelief and cavils. Only be- 
lieve and you shall see the salvation of God. 

" Believe, and show the reason of a man ; 
Believe, and taste the pleasures of a God ; 
Believe, and look with triumph on the tomb." 



SERMON XIV. 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children 
of God. — Komaxs riii. 16. 

What a blessed privilege is this — not only 
adopted into the family of God, but assured of our 
adoption ! 

It is an act of infinite condescension for him to 
receive us as his children. " Behold, what manner 
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that 
we should be called the sons of God !" But that 
is not all ; he also grants us his Spirit to testify 
to our sonship. Such our text represents as the 
common privilege of all true believers. 

I. Our first inquiry here will relate to the nature 
of this witness. Hoiv does the Spirit bear testi- 
mony to our adoption ? It is certainly not by any 
external manifestation. Thus Abraham was as- 
sured that Jehovah was his God, and his exceeding 
great reward. Thus Daniel was informed that he 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



275 



was a u man greatly beloved," and that his prayer 
had gone up to heaven with acceptance. Thus 
Mary Magdalene and others, while the Saviour 
was on earth, received the audible assurance that 
their sins were forgiven. 

There is no reason to believe that God speaks 
to men in this manner at the present day ; and all 
that confidence which arises from such a source 
must, to say the least, be exceedingly questionable. 
The imagination of a good man may, indeed, be so 
excited, that what is only apparent, may seem to 
him real ; but if men have no other evidence of 
salvation than that which is founded upon what 
they deem supernatural sounds or sights, that evi- 
dence must be both deceptive and ruinous. 

Nor does the Spirit bear witness to our adoption 
by any immediate revelation. There can be no ques- 
tion that God could thus speak to our minds : for 
he thus spake to the Prophets and Apostles. The 
Spirit directly inspired them to utter or record the 
truth which they communicated. This inspiration 
was designed not so much for their personal bene- 
fit, as for the benefit of others. The assurance of 
their salvation was obtained precisely in the same 
way that we must obtain it. Since the canon of 
the Scriptures has been completed, God speaks to 
men, not by any new revelation, but by the truth 
already revealed, and applied by the agency of his 



276 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



Spirit. It is by the truth that the soul is regene- 
rated, sanctified, and receives the witness of its 
adoption. 

I am aware that there are times when the Spirit 
operates upon the mind with such power, that old 
truths appear as if they were truths never before 
heard, or read, or known. Still, there is no truth 
thus presented, however clear and impressive, that 
is not already found in the sacred page — only that 
truth is now exhibited to us in a new aspect, and 
invested with new interest and importance. 

I might yet remark : this witness does not con- 
sist in any direct impression^ impulse, or suggestion, 
aside from all regard to our evidence of Christian 
character, or the fruits of the Spirit, as they are 
manifested in the heart and life. This could 
hardly be distinguished from an immediate revela- 
tion. It is a view which appears to us to have no 
foundation in Scripture, and which tends to fanati- 
cism and delusion. The witness of the Hol} r 
Spirit to our adoption is always connected with the 
witness of our own spirit. Both testify to the 
same thing, and their testimony is entirely har- 
monious. 

To set this whole matter in a clear and intelli- 
gible light, I remark : 

1. The Scriptures distinctly furnish us with the 
proper evidences of Christian character. Among 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



277 



these evidences we may mention contrition for sin, 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, supreme love to 
God, delight in the divine character, joy in the 
divine government, submission to the divine will, 
benevolence to man, love to the brotherhood, the 
spirit of prayer, and a prompt, cheerful, impartial 
obedience to the precepts of the gospel. 

2. While the word of God exhibits these exer- 
cises as decided marks of a gracious state, they are 
all produced in the believer by the agency of the Holy 
Spirit. It is the Spirit who takes away the heart 
of stone, and gives a heart of flesh. It is he who 
works in us that faith by which we become united 
to Christ, and receive a free justification. It is he 
who sheds abroad within us the love of God, and 
transforms us into the divine image and likeness. 
" The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
temperance." 

3. The believer, in comparing his state w T ith the 
marks of piety presented in the word of God, 
finds himself in actual possession of these marks. 
Thus has he the evidence of his own consciousness > 
or the witness of his own spirit to his adoption into 
the family of Christ. Perceiving as he does, that 
he is under the influence of those gracious affec- 
tions which are the fruit of the Spirit, he now 
justly draws the inference that he is born of God, 

24 



278 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



and an heir of glory. Hence, we are called upon 
to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith — 
to prove our own work. " Our rejoicing is this, the 
testimony of our consciences." "If our heart 
condemn us not, then have we confidence toward 
God." 

4. To assist us in this investigation of our state, 
we are also favored with the illumination of the Holy 
Spirit, thus enabling us to arrive at a satisfactory 
conclusion that we have indeed believed to the 
saving of the soul. In the language of Bishop 
Bull ; " The Spirit of God produces those graces in 
us which are the evidence of our adoption. It is 
he who, as occasion requires, illuminates our under- 
standings, and assists our memories in discovering 
and recollecting those arguments of hope and com- 
fort within ourselves. But God's Spirit does wit- 
ness with, not without our spirits and understand- 
ings, in making use of our reason in considering 
and reflecting upon those grounds of comfort, which 
the Spirit of God hath wrought in us, and from 
them drawing this comfortable conclusion to our- 
selves that we are the sons of God." 

With this agrees, substantially, the views of 
Dr. Thomas Scott. " The Holy Spirit," he says, 
" by producing in believers the tempers and affec- 
tions of children, as described in the Scriptures, 
most manifestly attests their adoption into God's 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



279 



family. This is not done by any voice, immediate 
revelation, or impulse, or merely by any text 
brought to the mind, (for all these are equivocal 
and delusory,) but by coinciding with the testi- 
mony of their own consciences as to their uprights 
ness in embracing the gospel and giving them- 
selves up to the service of God ; so that while 
they are examining themselves as to the reality 
of their conversion, and find scriptural evidence 
of it, the Holy Spirit, from time to time, shines 
upon his own work, excites their holy affections 
into lively exercise, renders them very efficacious 
upon their conduct, and thus puts the matter be- 
yond doubt, for while they feel the spirit of duti- 
ful children towards God, they become satisfied 
concerning his paternal love to them." 

u The common and ordinary method," says Dr. 
Watts, " whereby the Spirit of God bears witness 
that we are his children, is by drawing out our 
own spirits to search and inquire into the filial and 
holy dispositions which he himself has wrought in 
our hearts, and by assisting our consciences in the 
inquiry." 

Thus, also, Dr. Wardlaw remarks : " The Holy 
Spirit speaks in the word. The same Spirit ope- 
rates in the heart. There must be a correspon- 
dence between his testimony in the word and his 
operation in the heart. The evidence lies in this 
correspondence." 



280 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



So, also. President Edwards: "The mark en- 
stamped by the Spirit upon God's children is his 
own image, and this is the very thing which in 
Scripture is called the seal of the Spirit, and the 
witness or evidence of the Spirit." 

" The witness of the Spirit/' says John Angell 
James, "is our possessing this filial disposition, 
which characterizes every child of God." 

The operations of the Spirit of God, it must be 
remembered, are identified with the operations of 
our own minds. He works in us in perfect har- 
mony with the laws of our mental being, so that 
we become sensible of the Spirit's agency only by 
calling into exercise our own agency ; thus leaving 
us as free and spontaneous, in our mental opera- 
tions, as if we acted entirely independent of him. 

We discern the cause only in the effect. 

*/ 

It may be remarked, that the witness of the 
Spirit may greatly differ as to the degree of its clear- 
ness and fullness. In some instances it rises to 
such a conviction or persuasion as excludes all 
doubt and uncertainty, while in others it may 
amount simply to a prevailing consciousness that 
we are in a state of favor with God, disturbed, 
perhaps, by occasional distrust and fear. 

The Christian's evidence may sometimes he obscured 
by physical infirmity ; sometimes by the want of 
discriminating views of the plan of salvation : 
sometimes by extreme natural timidity and cau- 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



281 



tion, inclining him to look upon everything in the 
most discouraging aspect ; and sometimes, I may 
add. that evidence may be weakened or destroyed 
by causes positively criminal, such as the indul- 
gence of sin, or the neglect of known duty. 

Besides the ordinary witness of the Spirit which 
has been described, Dr. Watts speaks of what he 
terms the extraordinary witness. By this he un- 
derstands one more immediate and sensible, by 
which the hearts of God's most favored servants 
are raised to an eminent sense of their interest in 
the divine mercy and assurance of their eternal 
salvation. This favor he supposes to be granted 
them under peculiar circumstances; as, for example, 
when they are called to difficult services or un- 
common sufferings, when assailed by sore tempta- 
tions, when engaged in special devotion, or when 
ardent piety is connected with great mental weak- 
ness. This, however, we may regard as nothing 
more than the ordinary witness of the Spirit, only 
afforded in a higher degree, and attended with more 
sensible consolations and supports. 

With the views of Dr. Watts accord those of 
Dr. John Owen. " There are two ways," he says, 
" whereby the Spirit worketh this joy in the heart 
of believers." He doth it immediately by himself, 
without the consideration of any other acts or 
works of his, or the interposition of any reasonings 

24* 



282 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



or deductions and conclusions. This does not 
arise from our reflex considerations of the love of 
God, but rather gives occasion thereunto. He so 
sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts, and 
fills them with gladness by an immediate act and 
operation. Of this joy there is no account to be 
given, but that the Spirit worketh it when and 
how he will. 

2 e The Spirit works this joy also mediately by 
his other w^orks tow 7 ards us. 

It must be acknowledged that there is always 
great mystery connected with the mode of the 
Spirit's agency, whether that agency be mediate 
or immediate — whether it relate to regeneration, 
sanctification, or the sealing of the believer unto 
the day of redemption; yet there is certainly 
nothing unreasonable or visionary in the idea, that 
the Holy Spirit may so shine upon his own work 
of grace in the heart as to enable the Christian at 
once and clearly to discern the marks of his adop- 
tion, and thus impart to him the full and joyful 
assurance of his acceptance with God. 

As Hagar in the wilderness did not perceive the 
fountain of water which was near her, until God 
opened her eyes to discern it, so the springs of 
divine life and holiness which are opened in the 
souls of believers are never clearly discerned until 
the Holy Spirit assists their inquiries, and sheds 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



288 



upon their minds the beams of heavenly light and 
glory. " What man knoweth the things of a man, 
save the spirit of man which is in him ? Even so 
the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit 
of God. Now we have received not the spirit of 
the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we 
might know the things that are freely given to us 
of God.' ' " Because ye are sons, God hath sent 
forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying 
Abba, Father. 9 ' " Now he that hath wrought us 
for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given 
unto us the earnest of the Spirit." 

Whatever views may be entertained respecting 
the nature of the Spirit's witness, among good 
men there can be but one sentiment as to its reality 
and blessed effects. The primitive Christians, we 
are told, u walked in the comforts of the Holy 
Ghost," and rejoiced in Christ "with joy unspeak- 
able and full of glory;" and if we fail of this 
privilege, the fault is not in the Gospel, but in our 
own unbelief and indolence. 

How common is it for the burdened sinner, 
when he believes in Jesus, in a moment to have 
his darkness turned into light, his sorrow into joy. 
And from what arises this sudden and glorious 
change, but from the consciousness that he has 
now become reconciled to God through the blood 
of his Son — a consciousness wrought in him bv 



284 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



the agency of the Holy Spirit — once operating as 
a reprover, but now as a comforter. 

And there are times, in the experience of Chris- 
tians, when their minds are filled with extraor- 
dinary light, when their affections are uncommonly 
ardent, and when their peace is made to flow like 
a river — times when they seem already to drink 
from the fountain of bliss that flows from the 
throne of God and the Lamb, and the soul is almost 
impatient to fly away to the bosom of Jesus. And 
to what will you attribute these elevated and de- 
lightful emotions, but to the invisible yet powerful 
influence of the Holy Spirit, " the earnest of our 
future inheritance/' Whether we regard this in- 
fluence as direct or indirect, immediate or mediate, 
is a matter of only secondary consideration, pro- 
vided we hold to the great fact itself. 

The world may call it all a delusion, but we 
know its blessed reality, and have the witness of 
it in our own bosoms. 

II. We propose now, in the second place, to 
dwell on the importance or desirableness of this 
witness. 

1. I remark, then, it is important to render m 
truly happy. No mind can be at rest while it is 
in suspense, in regard to its future destiny. The 
time is not far distant when we shall all pass away 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT* 



285 



from the present scene of probation, and enter 
upon our allotment for eternity. "What, then, 
will be the doom of my undying spirit ? Where 
am I to take up my final abode ? Shall I be num- 
bered with the blessed, or be cast off with the lost ? 
Shall I dwell in the life-giving presence of God 
and the Lamb, or shall I be the eternal monument 
of divine wrath V 

Who can be indifferent to questions of such 
moment ? Who can be satisfied while interests so 
high and sacred are in suspense ? I know there 
are men w T ho never give themselves any concern 
about the future. They seem to think that it will 
take care of itself ; or, with a kind of desperation, 
they rush forward, resolved to brave the issue. 
No man, however, who seriously reflects on his 
immortal nature and destiny, can find relief but 
in a well-grounded hope of future felicity. If we 
come short of this privilege, we come short of the 
most precious inheritance of the saints. True 
religion is both calculated and designed to promote 
human happiness ; but in order that we may enjoy 
the consolations of the Gospel, we must be brought 
thoroughly under its influence. We must not only 
have faith in Christ, but also the evidence of our 
faith ; so that with the Apostle we can say, " I 
know whom I have believed." u To me to live is 
Christ, and to die is gain." 



286 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



" To take a glimpse within the vail, 
To know that God is mine ; 
These are the joys that never fail, 
Unspeakable ! Divine I" 

2. The witness of the Spirit to our adoption 
will also inspire us tvith confidence in prayer. " If 
our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence 
toward God ; and whatsoever we ask we receive 
of him, because we keep his commandments, and 
do those things that are pleasing in his sight." 

It is the tendency of slavish fear to drive us 
from God. Instead of courting the divine pre- 
sence, it rather shrinks from it. Guilt burdens 
the spirit ; guilt seals the lips ; guilt rises up as a 
cloud to shut out the light of heaven from the 
soul. Not until we can recognize in God a Father 
and a friend, can we come to him with any true 
confidence. Now w r e approach him not as slaves, 
but as children ; not with the spirit of bondage, 
engendering fear, but " with the spirit of adoption, 
crying, Abba, Father." 

In dependence upon the merits of our great In- 
tercessor, and assisted by the Holy Spirit, we come 
boldly to the throne of grace, assured that what- 
ever we need, infinite benevolence will bestow. 
With entire freedom we make mention of every 
want, unbosom every grief, and pour forth every 
desire. And while we thus draw nigh to God, he, 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



287 



at the same time, draws nigh to us — giving us 
fresh tokens of his love — affording us brighter 
manifestations of his glory, and causing us to feel 
that we are " quite on the verge of heaven." 

3. This witness of the Spirit is also of the high- 
est importance as a stimulus to Christian fidelity. 

The doubting professor is commonly so occupied 
with his own case, that he feels but little inclined 
to take any interest in the salvation of others. 
Indeed, the very uncertainty in which his own 
destiny appears to be involved, is often urged as a 
plea for neglect and inactivity. " I have so much 
to do," it is said, " with my own state, that I can- 
not think of concerning myself about the state of 
others. How can I labor to secure their salvation, 
when I know not that my own is secured V 

And while this undecided state of mind indis- 
poses us for benevolent effort, its tendency is also 
to hinder our success — to impair our influence. If 
our religion can do no more for us than impart a 
feeble, glimmering hope of future happiness, it pre- 
sents to the world but little that is attractive and 
inviting. To recommend the Gospel to others, Ave 
must be able to testify to its happy influence upon 
ourselves. It was this that gave to the primitive 
Christians such amazing power. The manly avow 7 al 
of their bright hopes of immortality, arrested the 
attention of the most thoughtless, and produced 



288 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



the conviction that a religion which could thus 
bear up the soul under present trials, and welcome 
death as the introduction to life and glory, must 
have its origin, not with man, but with God. The 
joy of the Lord is the strength of his people. 
Nothing can so fit us for active, devoted, self-deny- 
ing exertion in the cause of Christ, as the light of 
God's countenance — the comfortable assurance that 
we are the objects of his special love and favor. 

4. And what a support is this witness to our adop- 
tion in the hour of affliction and sorrow. No matter 
what may be the nature of our trials, we are pre- 
pared to regard them all, not as the visitations of 
wrath, but of love. Painful as may be the strokes 
of Divine Providence, we feel assured that their 
design is purely benevolent, and must ultimately 
work for our spiritual good, Cheerfully we resign 
ourselves into the paternal hands of God, leaving 
it to him to direct our steps, and order all the 
events and circumstances of our life. " The Lord 
of hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is our re- 
fuse." The vessel in which w T e have embarked 
may be driven and tossed, but while Jesus is at 
the helm, we have nothing to fear. The future 
may be shrouded in darkness ; our way may be 
hedged up by a thousand difficulties ; still we 
dread no evil. While we are grateful for past: 
mercies, we confide all our future interests to him 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



289 



who has said, " I will never leave nor forsake thee." 
Our only concern is to be found in the path of 
duty — results w 7 e leave with God — willing that he 
should choose our inheritance for us — to give or to 
withhold, as in his infinite wisdom he may see best. 
Trial may succeed trial ; one wave of sorrow may 
quickly follow another; still, we are persuaded, 
that God is ordering all things right, and that our 
night of anguish will soon end in glorious, joyous 
day. 

5. How important, also, is this witness in our 
conflict with the last enemy. When that solemn 
crisis arrives, nothing can afford us any sure sup- 
port but scriptural and unequivocal evidence, that 
we are the heirs of salvation. If we can leave 
this matter in doubt now, we shall feel that we 
need assurance then. How dreadful to pass into 
eternity, uncertain whether our destiny is to be 
one of happiness or misery ! 

On the other hand, how little occasion have we 
to fear death, if assured that it is to us but " the 
gate to endless joy." With the unclouded pros- 
pect of glory before us, we may hail the hour that 
will tear down this tabernacle of clay, and intro- 
duce us to our long-sought rest. 

It was this confident hope of a blessed immor- 
tality that led David to say, " Though I walk 
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will 

25 



290 THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 

fear no evil, for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy 
staff they comfort me." It was this that called 
forth the exclamation of Stephen, " Lord Jesus, re- 
ceive my spirit !" It was this that led Paul, on the 
eve of martyrdom, to exult, " I have fought a good 
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
faith ; henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown 
of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
Judge, shall give me at that day/ 5 And it is this 
that has inspired the lips of thousands with the 
triumphant shout, " Thanks be unto God, who 
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ." 

My dear hearers, what do you know of this tes- 
timony of the Spirit? Have you indeed "a good 
hope through grace" — a hope intelligent, scriptu- 
ral, sure ? Be not deceived. Let the ground of 
your confidence be thoroughly examined; and be- 
ware of crying peace, unless God himself has 
spoken peace. 

There are those who ought to doubt their state. 
As they bear not the fruits of the Spirit, how can 
they enjoy the witness of the Spirit ? Can the 
Spirit testify to a falsehood ? — testify that you are 
God's adopted children, when his word declares 
that you are yet the children of disobedience? 
How can you have the witness of the Holy Spirit, 
when you have not even the witness of your own 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



291 



spirit ? " If our heart condemn us, God is greater 
than our heart, and knoweth all things." 

Oh, what a fearful state is this ! You have the 
sentence of condemnation already within you ; and 
just as certainly as you are self-condemned, do 
you also lie under the condemnation of the divine 
law, and will be condemned in the great day of 
final reckoning. 

How can you rest satisfied a single moment in 
this state ? The awful future lies just before you. 
Earth's shadows are fast flitting away, and then 
come the dread realities of eternity. Oh, how 
dark are the prospects that lie before you — no 
heaven— no hope ! What will you do in that hour, 
when the scenes of the judgment open to your 
vision, and you find yourself without any valid 
title to the saint's inheritance ? How can you 
thus meet the king of terrors ? how pass up to the 
tribunal of God ? 

Oh, that you would lay hold on eternal life 
while it is now within your grasp. Still the Spirit 
whispers in your ear, " Come, and take the water 
of life freely." It may be that he has already 
convinced you of sin. Now, may he enter your 
heart as the Comforter. Resist his kind influence 
no longer. Give him now a cordial welcome, and 
he will give you a peace which the world cannot 
give nor take away — a hope which shall prove like 
an anchor to your soul, sure and steadfast. 



SERMON XV. 



THE TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN 
CHARACTER. 

And thon shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee 
these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee and to prove thee, 
to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his com- 
mandments, or no." — Deuteronomy viii. 2. 

The dispensations of God's providence towards 
his people Israel were marked by circumstances 
of peculiar interest. Instead of leading them di- 
rectly to the promised land, he conducted them 
by a circuitous route through the wildnerness for 
forty years ; and during that period not only 
favored them with the most remarkable mercies 
and deliverances, but also afflicted them with the 
sorest calamities and trials. This, our text informs 
us, was done, in order to prove their sincerity, 
and to humble their pride and rebellion. 

Whatever peculiarity may have distinguished 
the dealings of God with that nation, all of us are 
under the government of the same Almighty Ruler 
of the universe. Not a single event transpires, in 
connection with our journey through life, but is 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 293 

ordered or permitted by him. He is leading each 
of us along in his own way, and accomplishing 
through us his own purposes. The most trivial 
occurrences, as they may be deemed by us, con- 
stitute important links in that providence by which 
he is working out his own great and glorious de- 
signs. The circumstances in which we are placed, 
and the influences with which we are surrounded, 
from day to day, are all under the direction of his 
infinite wisdom and benevolence. And he has the 
same end to accomplish by his providences towards 
us that was contemplated in reference to the Jews : 
it is to humble and to prove us,— to know what is 
in our hearts, whether we will keep his command- 
ments or not. 

God tries men now as certainly as he did of old. 
The trial may not always be so sensible and mani- 
fest, but it is equally real and important. 

The design of this trial is the development, as 
well as the improvement, of human character. 
Not that God needs any information respecting us. 
He sees the end from the beginning. To him the 
hearts of men are known with unerring certainty. 
Whatever mistake we may make in judging our- 
selves, with him there can be no mistake. Long 
before Judas was placed in circumstances by which 
his heart prompted him to betray the Saviour, 
God knew what was in that heart. " He searches 

25* 



294 TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 

the heart, and tries the reins of the children of 
men." 

The design of this trial is to develop our charac- 
ter to ourselves and to the world. It is of the high- 
est importance that we should form just views of 
our moral state. We are prone to self-flattery 
and self-delusion, and it is often not until we are 
tried that we discover the defect and partiality 
of our judgment. Men are not unfrequently in- 
fluenced by the basest passions while they seem 
scarcely conscious of the fact. The principles of 
avarice, pride, envy, jealousy, may be at work in 
their bosoms while they are wholly ignorant of 
their strength, and may even overlook their exist- 
ence. They can more easily regard these principles 
as swaying others than as having any control over 
themselves. The character is thus moulded, while 
the unhappy victims hardly dream of the chains 
with which they are fettered, and the fearful ruin 
which lies directly before them. When Hazael was 
told by the prophet of the enormities which he would 
perpetrate, ignorant of the strength of his corrup- 
tions, he exclaimed. " Is thy servant a dog, that 
he should do this great thing ?" The event, how- 
ever, fully proved that the man of God had uttered 
only the words of truth and soberness. We know 
not what is in our hearts until they are revealed 
to us in the course of God's providence. The 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 295 

very sins which men are ready to condemn in 
others they are often unconsciously guilty of them- 
selves, and crimes of which they may now be in- 
nocent they are at once prepared to perpetrate, 
when placed in different circumstances and exposed 
to new temptations. The Jews condemned, in the 
most unmeasured terms, the persecuting spirit of 
their ancestors, and flattered themselves that had 
they lived in their days, their conduct towards the 
prophets would have been directly the reverse, 
while, at the same time, their hearts rankled with 
the same enmity against the truth, and their hands 
eventually became crimsoned with the blood of the 
Son of God. And there are, undoubtedly, those 
at the present day who are ready to condemn 
the cruelty of these Jews, who, if placed in the 
same circumstances, would develop the same de- 
pravity. 

There is no knowledge more valuable than that 
which we derive from experience, and the most 
satisfactory acquaintance we can form of our cha- 
racter is that which is founded on trial. We read 
of " gold tried in the fire," — a religion that bears 
the test of thorough examination and severe dis- 
cipline. The more it is tried the brighter it shines. 
The fire consumes not the metal, only the dross. 
It is thus that many a timid and doubting Chris- 
tian has ultimately had his perplexities removed, 



296 TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 

and his faith and hope confirmed. The repeated 
trials of his sincerity, to which he has been sub- 
jected, has at length imparted to him such an as- 
surance of his devotion to God that, with Heze- 
kiah, he could say, " Remember, 0 Lord. I beseech 
thee, how I have walked before thee in truth, and 
with a perfect heart, and have done that which is 
good in thy sight." 

We see, therefore, the propriety of that trial of 
character which we are all now undergoing. Just 
as important as it is that we should know our- 
selves, so important is it that the arrangements of 
Divine Providence should be such as are calculated 
to develop our character, or to show what are the 
prevailing principles and dispositions by which we 
are controlled. 

Various are the ways in which God, in his provi- 
dence, subjects us to this test. 

I. Prosperity is a trial of human character. 
There are seasons when the divine dispensations 
toward us are eminently propitious. Our path 
is gilded with sunshine and strewed with flowers. 
Our undertakings are crowned with success. Our 
worldly substance is increased, and our cup is made 
to run over. Health mantles our cheeks and 
sparkles in our eyes. We are not in trouble as 
other men, neither are we plagued with those dis- 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OP CHARACTER. 297 

appointments, losses and bereavements with which 
they are visited. Our sky is bright, our sea 
smooth, and our mountain appears to us to stand 
strong. Desirable as we may regard it to be 
placed in these circumstances, the test of character 
to which we are subjected is one extremely try- 
ing. It is an ordeal through which few can pass 
without injury. " The prosperity of fools," we 
are told, " shall destroy them." " Let favor be 
shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righte- 
ousness." When Jeshurun waxed fat, he kicked, 
and forsook the God who made him, and lightly 
esteemed the rock of his salvation. 

How prone are we, in the midst of our pros- 
perity, to feel that this world is our home, to cleave 
to it as our chief good, and to lose sight of the 
"better and more enduring substance." How 
prone to become exalted above measure, to forget 
the hand that has so kindly fostered us, and thus 
neglect to render to God according to the benefits 
which we have received from him. "I spake unto 
thee in thy prosperity, but thou saidst I will not 
hear." " Because they have no changes, therefore 
they fear not God." Thus the means which are 
mercifully designed to draw men to God, tend 
only to alienate them from him. Blessings that 
call for the warmest gratitude become the occa- 
sion of more aggravated rebellion. We need not 



298 TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 

wonder, then at the caution — When thou shalt 
have eaten and art full, then beware lest thou for- 
get the Lord that brought thee forth out of the 
land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." When 
all things go well with us, then it is that we have 
need for peculiar watchfulness. In nothing is the 
grace of God toward his people more richly dis- 
played than in preserving them from the evils 
which are in the w T orld. " This is the victory that 
over cometh the world, even our faith.'* 

" I know," says the Apostle, " both how to be 
abased and I know how to abound ; everywhere 
and in all things I am instructed both to be full 
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer 
need." True religion prepares us for all changes 
and all events. Whether the course of the Chris- 
tian be smooth or rough, it is still upward, and 
like the shining light, it shineth more and more, 
unto the perfect day. 

II. Adversity is another test of human character. 
It is the same God that kills and makes alive, that 
casts down and lifts up, that gives and takes away. 
While he shows himself in the sunshine, he also 
rides upon the storm. His providences toward us 
are often severely afflictive. The whole heavens 
are overcast with clouds. Our purposes are broken 
off ; a dismal shade is thrown upon our prospects ; 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 299 

our frames are wasted by disease, and we are 
made to " possess months of vanity, and wearisome 
nights are appointed us ; when we lie down we 
say, When shall we arise and the night be gone ; 
we are full of tossings to and fro, until the dawn- 
ing of the day." Death enters our habitations, 
and occasions melancholy vacancies. The heart 
bleeds with sorrow, and the spirit is weighed down 
under an accumulation of misfortunes. These 
things are not casual. u I form the light," says 
the Almighty, " and create darkness ; I make 
peace and create evil ; I, the Lord, do all these 
things." And he never acts without design. The 
same wisdom that guides him in the bestowment 
of his favors, guides him in the visitation of the 
rod. Our affections are all to be regarded as so 
many trials of our character. They are intended 
to show what is in our hearts — to make us ac- 
quainted with ourselves. They are all experiments 
to discover our prevailing principles and disposi- 
tions. It was for this end that God afflicted his 
servant Job. The patriarch had been charged 
with selfishness and hypocrisy. To test his cha- 
racter, he is placed in the furnace. One calamity 
succeeds another. Not only is he stripped of his 
property, his servants and his children, but from 
the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he 
is covered with a most loathsome disease. And 



800 TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 



how does he bear the trial ? Though not free 
from dross, he comes forth with increased lustre. 
"Ye have heard of the patience of Job." "The 
Lord/' he exclaimed, "'gave, and the Lord hath 
taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." 
" Shall we receive good from the Lord's hand, and 
not evil ?" " Though he slay me, yet will I trust 
in him." How different the language and feelings 
of the afflicted servant of God from those of the 
ungodly. The afflictions of Pharaoh, instead of 
subduing his spirit, resulted in more hardened im- 
penitence. Ahaz, "'in his affliction, sinned yet 
more and more against God." " Thou hast stricken 
them," said Jeremiah, of his people, "but they have 
not grieved ; thou hast consumed them, but they 
have refused to receive correction ; they have made 
their faces harder than a rock ; they have refused 
to return." On another occasion we find it writ- 
ten — "I have overthrown some of you, as God 
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as 
a firebrand plucked out of the burning, yet have 
ve not returned unto me, saith the Lord." 

Many a one, under the rebukes of the Almighty, 
has discovered a spirit of unsubdued rebellion, of 
which he was hardly conscious before. Little did 
the people referred to in the text know of the 
wickedness of their hearts — little did they suspect 
the crimes of which they would be guilty until 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 301 

they were put to the test. God led them by a 
way they knew not. His providences towards 
them were continually varying. Sometimes they 
were indulged, and then thwarted; sometimes 
brought into dangers and straits, and then miracu- 
lously delivered. But the effect was the same in 
both cases. In prosperity they forgot God ; in 
adversity they murmured and rebelled against 
him. They limited his power, distrusted his good- 
ness, and magnified their trials as undeserved and 
intolerable, until, provoked by their perverseness, 
the hand of justice visited them with the most 
terrible judgments, 

III. We may remark, further, that the provi- 
dence of God often puts the character of men to 
the test, hy placing them in circumstances of temp- 
tation. The place of our abode, our employment, 
our associations, the fall of professors of religion, 
the prevalence of various forms of error, the ca- 
resses of friends, the persecution of enemies, the 
customs and usages of society, the blandishments 
of earth, our success and our failures — everything, 
in short, connected with our situation in life, may 
tend to reveal our spirit and motives. It is thus 
that God may try our sincerity, our integrity, our 
humility, ofe* faith, our patience. 

A man is often a very different character in one 

26 



302 TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 

situation, from what he is in another. A change 
of circumstances brings his moral principle to the 
test, and he finds his heart to be the seat of wick- 
edness, which he could hardly, at one time, have 
imagined it to be. " Solomon was a very different 
man in the early part of his reign, from what he 
was in those voluptuous periods of his history, 
during which he brought such reproach upon the 
throne. Who would have thought that the youth- 
ful Mary, the Queen of England, the translator of 
the Gospels, would ever have deserved the appel- 
lation of 'the Moody Mary? Who would have 
supposed that Robespierre, once so sensitive to the 
sufferings of his fellow-men, that he resigned a lu- 
crative office under the government, rather than 
condemn a culprit to the scaffold, would have filled 
Paris with blood?" Nero, that monster of cruelty, 
is said to have been a mild and amiable youth. In 
the early part of his reign, being called upon to 
subscribe to a sentence of death, he was melted to 
tears, and expressed his regret that he had ever 
learned to write, and it was with the utmost diffi- 
culty that he could persuade himself to sign the 
death-warrant of the condemned criminal. M But 
gradually he began to indulge a different taste — 
to surrender himself to luxury and dissipation. 
He soon poisoned his friend, murdered nis mother, 
kicked his wife to death, is said to have set Rome 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OP CHARACTER. 303 

on fire to enjoy the conflagration, and he illumina- 
ted his gardens and his midnight drives, by wrap- 
ping living Christians in sheets of pitch, and set- 
ting them on fire. Cruelty became his delight. 
He reveled and rioted in the writhing torture, and 
the shrieks of agony of his subjects." No man 
knows what is in his heart until he is tried. Peter 
learned his weakness only by a painful fall. Our 
easily besetting-sin may, for a long time, remain 
concealed, but eventually a change of circumstan- 
ces may cause it to be fully developed. Many a 
man who has regarded himself, and who has been 
regarded by others, as a man of integrity, has 
shown himself to be capable of acts of dishonesty 
the most atrocious. Many a one who has appeared 
to have a high respect for the sanctity of the Sab- 
bath, has shown, when placed in circumstances of 
temptation, that his regard for his own convenience 
and interest, w r as altogether paramount. Many a 
one, who has been thought to be meek and patient, 
has discovered that he need only meet with some 
provocation to call forth the spirit of revenge and 
vindictiveness. 

But if the trials to which we are exposed, in the 
providence of God, has brought to light concealed 
sins, they have also afforded occasion for the dis- 
play of distinguished virtues. The character of 
Abraham never appears to greater advantage, than 



304 TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 

during the severe tests to which it was brought in 
his repeated acts of faith and self-denial. Moses, 
though surrounded with all the honor, the pomp, 
and the fascinations of an Egyptian court, evinced 
the strength of his moral principles, by " choosing 
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, 
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." 
Joseph, when assaulted with temptation, exhibits 
his eminent virtue by exclaiming, " How can I do 
this great wickedness and sin against God !" The 
Martyrs, rather than sacrifice the cause of truth, 
sacrificed their earthly all. The self-denying Mis- 
sionary at the call of God, cheerfully relinquishes 
the society of Christian friends, and the endear- 
ments of his comfortable home, to toil, and suffer, 
and die in a land of pagan darkness. The afflicted 
saint, during many long years of anguish and pain, 
still continues the same patient sufferer, maintain- 
ing " the beginning of his confidence steadfast unto 
the end." It is thus that many a Christian has 
been subjected to a trial of his faith, which even- 
tually has been " to praise, and honor, and glory." 
The reality of his piety has thus been made clearly 
manifest to himself and to the world, and the grace 
of God most strikingly illustrated in upholding and 
comforting his people in their severest conflicts and 
sufferings. 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OP CHARACTER. 305 
REMARKS. 

1. How important is it, then, that we study our 
character as developed in the providence of God. 
There is no better way to become acquainted with 
ourselves than this. We are prone to self-decep- 
tion, and we need to use every precaution to guard 
against the evil. If we are truly honest, we shall 
never be at a loss to bring our religious principle 
to the test. The daily occurrences of life will afford 
us ample opportunity for close and impartial scru- 
tiny. God is leading each of us by a way calcu- 
lated to show what is in our hearts. Every man s 
character is by some means brought to a test, and 
if we have been at all attentive to the process 
through which we have been passing, we can 
hardly fail to know what spirit we are of. 

Let us, then, remember all the way which the 
Lord our God has led us through the wilderness 
of this world. In every event of life, whether 
prosperous or afflictive, let us trace his hand, and 
study his designs. Let us carefully examine how 
we have acted when our character has been put on 
trial — when temptations have been presented to 
draw us aside from duty, or yield to the com- 
mission of sin. Is our religion one that will bear 
to be tested ? Are we prepared to follow the Sa- 
viour whithersoever he leads us? Are we go- 
verned habitually by the fear of God, and by a 

26* 



306 TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 

regard for his honor ? Are we ready to sacrifice 
everything rather than sacrifice duty, and the 
sacred interests of the Saviours kingdom ? Who- 
ever may abandon the truth, do our hearts still 
cleave to it ? Whoever may forget the welfare of 
Zion, do we prefer her prosperity above our 
chief joy? Have we discovered in ourselves 
a determination to do right, regardless of all con- 
sequences ? Do we find in ourselves a growing 
conformity to the will of God, and evidence that 
we are ripening foiv his eternal enjoyment in 
heaven ? For many years God has been proving 
us to know what is in our hearts. What has been 
the result of the trial ? " Know ye not your own- 
selves ?" The faith of some, we trust, has re- 
ceived additional confirmation. The doubts which 
you may once have entertained in regard to your 
Christian character, are vanishing; and with all 
the consciousness you have of your weakness and 
imperfection, you can still clearly trace within you, 
the lineaments of the new nature, the evidence of 
habitual devotion to the glory and will of God. 
But we fear that with others the disclosure is very 
different. Your frequent relapses and defections 
must, by this time, have convinced you, that the 
favorable views which you once entertained of 
your character, were a wretched delusion. You 
professed to yield yourself to God, while your con- 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 307 

duct, as developed in the course of Divine Provi- 
dence, has plainly demonstrated that the principle 
of selfishness still retains all its original sway. 
God has repeatedly put you on trial, and what ap- 
peared once as gold, now proves itself to be only 
dross or tin. Like the stony ground hearers, 
when tribulation or persecution arose, you became 
offended. Like the young man who came to our 
Lord inquiring what he must do to inherit eternal 
life, your heart still cleaves to the world, and you 
have gone away sorrowful. Some of you who 
once professed attachment to the truth, have shown 
that your heaits incline to error. Some who once 
appeared to court the society of the faithful, now 
appear more at home with the ungodly. Some 
who professed to come out from the world, and no 
longer conform to its spirit and maxims, are now 
following the multitude to do evil. Well is it that 
God does thus afford men an opportunity to dis- 
cover their delusion, while there is yet a remedy. 
Better is it to have our hearts revealed to us now, 
than to meet the disclosure amid the scenes of a 
coming eternity. 

2. What an importance does the view which has 
been exhibited in this discourse give to our present 
existence ! Our present state is a state of proba- 
tion. We are all on trial for the future. We are 
all acting out and forming a character that is ulti- 



308 TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 

mately to fit us for heaven or hell. The develop- 
ment is continually going forward. Every day we- 
are subjected to new tests ; every day is one of 
triumph or defeat. All the years of our past life 
God has been calling forth the state of our hearts. 
Unconsciously, perhaps, to ourselves, we have been 
continually unfolding ourselves in the various situ- 
ations in which his providence has placed us. The 
process of trial is still continued. New occasions 
will be afforded us to show what are our disposi- 
tions and motives, and new evidences will be fur- 
nished either of the good or evil that may be found 
in us. Oh, how solemn, how interesting is our 
present position ! How important the part we are 
all acting ! All of us are on trial, and on trial but 
once. Our whole eternity is staked upon our con- 
duct in time. The character we are now > deve- 
loping will be our character forever, and by that 
character will our destiny be moulded throughout 
our interminable existence in the future. 

3. How fully will the propriety of God's dealings 
with ns in this world be vindicated in the next. The 
dispensations of Divine Providence are now enve- 
loped in mystery. How many events transpire 
for which we can assign no reason. Were the 
government of the world in our hands, we should 
often direct matters entirely the reverse of what 
they are. Why does the Almighty suffer the 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 309 

wicked to prosper, while the righteous are called 
to pass through such scenes of adversity ? Why 
has error so long triumphed, and truth so long 
been crushed ? Why has " the man of sin," for so 
many centuries, been permitted to hold the human 
mind in vassalage, and to retard the progress of a 
pure Christianity? Why these alternate seasons 
of revival and declension ? Why these divisions 
and dissensions in the Church of God? Why 
these frequent apostacies and defections among 
religious professors ? Why these crosses, these 
trials, these disappointments, these temptations, 
to which as individuals we may be appointed? 
The answer to these questions must be reserved 
for the future. The day of judgment will be the 
day of revelation. Then the clouds that encircle 
the throne of heaven will be dispersed. Then the 
wisdom of Jehovah's plans will be unfolded. Then 
it will be seen that the Lord "hath done all things 
well." The great ends of his dispensations, in the 
development of human character, will all have been 
accomplished, and the intelligent universe will be 
constrained to acknowledge that all his ways have 
been ways of truth, of wisdom, of justice, and of 
benevolence. Let us then "judge nothing before 
the time." 

" God is his own interpreter, 
And he will make it plain.' 



310 TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OE CHARACTER, 

4. Let me remark further — Our probation ivill 
soon come to a close. The present state will soon 
give place to another, in which our character will 
be formed and fixed for eternity. The great pro- 
blem whether we are to be eternally the friends 
or enemies of God, with some of us may be almost 
solved. The trial is longer or shorter as infinite 
wisdom may judge best. With some it terminates 
in childhood, with some in youth, with some in 
middle life, and with some it is prolonged down 
to old age. But that trial is advancing, and the 
eye of God is carefully marking its results. It 
may end to-morrow ; it may end to-day. The 
Christian's character may be almost matured for 
heaven, and the sinner's for perdition. Then fol- 
lows the judgment — the judgment I Ye afflicted and 
tossed, hold out yet a little longer. Soon the 
Master will be heard saying, " Come up hither ; 
thou hast been faithful over few things, I will now 
make thee ruler over many ; enter thou into the 
joy of thy Lord." Then the clouds that so long 
hung over your path, will all have vanished. The 
light of heaven will, in a moment, remove all you! 
former perplexities. The last conflict has bee 
endured, and victory, victory, eternal victory shal 
be yours. 

And then, too, shall the moral history of th* 
sinner be rehearsed. Then will he look back and 



TRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 311 

remember all the way which the Lord God led 
him. Then will he contemplate all the blessings 
which he once perverted, the chastisements which 
he misimproved, the calls of grace which he re- 
jected, and the various influences under which his 
character was formed and developed for an eternal 
retribution. How painful will be to him the retro- 
spect ! How overwhelmed will he be to find that 
he remained inflexible under all that a God of 
boundless mercy did to reclaim him, and that 
unholv as he now is, he must remain so forever. 
Probation is now past, the influence of the Spirit 
is withdrawn, the restraints of Divine Providence 
are removed, and the great question respecting his 
future character and destiny decided, without any 
possibility of reversion. 



SERMON XVI. 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the 
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. — He- 
brews iv. 14. 

Exposed as the Hebrew Christians were to the 
seductive influence of false teachers, they were in 
great danger of apostatizing from their religious 
profession, and relapsing into the system of Ju- 
daism. To confirm them in the faith and hope of 
the gospel, constitutes the grand design of the 
apostle in the epistle which he wrote to them. 
With this view, he enters into a particular con- 
sideration of the superiority of the Christian to the 
Mosaic dispensation. First of all, he exhibits the 
dignity of its divine founder. " God who at sun- 
dry times and in divers manners, spake in time 
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these 
last days spoken unto us by his Son." 

The Jews entertained the highest veneration for 
Moses, the deliverer and guide of their nation ; 
but however exalted was his station, the Son of 
God claims the superiority, being " accounted 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



313 



worthy of more glory, inasmuch as he who hath 
build ed the house, hath more honor than the 
house." 

The Jews had also the most sacred regard for 
the priesthood of their dispensation, but Christ, 
the great high priest of the Christian dispensation, 
the apostle shows, is exalted far above Aaron, and 
all his descendants. It is on this fact that he 
bases the exhortation of the text to Christian stead- 
fastness and perseverance. " Seeing then that 
we have a great high priest that is passed into the 
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fad our 
profession." 

I. Let us attend to the duty which is here en- 
joined to hold fast our profession. 

u To profess means to declare publicly and 
solemnly, something that we believe, or that we 
intend to do." "A profession of Christianity 
signifies a public, solemn, and emphatic declaration 
that we believe the truths, and submit to the ob- 
ligations of Christianity." 

Such a profession, if truly scriptural, implies the 
following things : — 

1. A conviction of the divine origin of the Christian 
system. When a man avows his adherence to any 
religion, consistency demands that he be fully per- 
suaded of its truth and importance. Every Chris- 

27 



314 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



tian ought to have a reason for his belief as well as 
for his hope, It is not enough that we live in a 
Christian country, that Christianity is the prevail- 
ing religion in the community, and that it was the 
religion of our ancestors. We should examine its 
evidences and claims for ourselves. All Christians 
may not, indeed, be capable of entering into a 
minute investigation of the various arguments that 
have been adduced in confirmation of the Chris- 
tian system, but all should be fully satisfied that 
they have not followed a mere cunningly devised 
fable, but the truth of the living Grod. The Bible 
contains internal evidence of its divinity, and none 
who read it with a prayerful and teachable spirit, 
can fail to receive the conviction from the nature 
of its doctrines, the sublimity of its style, and its 
wonderful adaptation to the wants of man, that it 
was written under divine inspiration. The man 
who makes a religious profession ought to be so 
firmly persuaded of this, that his faith will remain 
unshaken by all the assaults of both earth and 
hell, prepared not only to defend the truth with 
his lips, but also to seal it with his very blood. 

2. An intelligent scriptural profession also im- 
plies an evangelical creed. By this we mean a creed 
that embraces "the truth as it is in Jesus," the 
great facte, doctrines, and precepts of the gospel. 
Thus we read of the " form of doctrine," which the 



HOLDING PAST OUR PROFESSION. 



315 



apostles delivered unto the people ; and it is re- 
corded of the converts on the day of Pentecost, 
that " they continued steadfastly in the apostles 5 
doctrine." It is no more a matter of indifference 
what a man believes than what he does. All 
genuine experience and holy obedience must be 
the fruit of faith. It is reasonable, therefore, that 
in making a profession of religion, a man should be 
required not only to express his belief in the Chris- 
tian system, as a whole, but also in its distinctive 
and fundamental truths. Care, however, should 
be taken not to exact too much. Creeds and con- 
fessions should embrace only the fundamental doc- 
trines of religion, doctrines which are essential to 
the existence of true piety, and respecting which 
all Christians are of one heart and mind. Converts 
ought to be received by the church on the same 
ground that they are received by Christ, not on 
account of any peculiarity of sentiment, but on ac- 
count of their piety. 

Every man who makes a public profession of 
faith, should know what he believes, and why he 
believes it. We have too many in all our churches 
who believe just what others believe, without giv- 
ing themselves the trouble to inquire whether their 
faith be orthodox or heterodox, saving or ruinous, 
just like the man who when questioned as to what 
he believed, replied, " Why, I believe what the 



316 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



church believes." " And what does the church 
believe ?" " The church believes what I believe ?" 
" And what do you and the church believe V 
" Why we both believe the same thing." 

Here we have the grand cause of the ignorance, 
formalism, and superstition, which, for so many 
ages, chained the human mind, until at length the 
light of the glorious reformation taught men to 
think, believe, and act under a sense of their indi- 
vidual responsibility to God. 

3. And this leads me to remark further: a pro- 
fession of religion implies a public declaration of 
our actual experience of the power of the Gospel, and 
of our determination to live, henceforth, in conformity 
to its precepts. It is not enough that we are con- 
vinced of the truth of Christianity, and that we 
avow our belief of its doctrines ; we must have 
prevailing evidence ourselves, and furnish credible 
evidence to others, that we have truly embraced 
Christ as our Saviour, and yielded to his claims a cor- 
dial submission. Christianity is not a mere system 
of doctrines, but "the life of God in the soul of 
man," a regeneration — a new creation — "righteous- 
ness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." There 
is a road to hell by a more intellectual faith, a cold 
and smooth orthodoxy, as well as by the open de- 
nial and rejection of the truth. The profession 
which we should make, when we come into the 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



317 



church, is a profession of religion. Such a profes- 
sion implies a profession of reconciliation to God, 
penitence for sin, and reliance on Christ as the 
only ground of our pardon and acceptance. It is 
not a profession that we mean to become Christians, 
but that we are already such. We enter the 
church not to be converted, but as already con- 
verted. We approach the Lord's table, not that 
we may there become united to Christ by some 
magic and mysterious power, going forth from that 
sacrament, but as already partakers of his benefits. 
We utterly protest against the practice of those 
churches w T ho receive to membership any but such 
as give credible evidence of conversion, as* both 
unscriptural and ruinous. The tares, indeed, will 
grow among the wheat, but let us not plant them 
there, knowing them to be tares. 

Such is the nature of a Christian profession — 
such the profession which the Hebrews had made 
when they embraced the Gospel, and w 7 hich the 
Apostle here admonishes them to hold fast. 

The language implies that there is great danger 
of letting it go. This danger arises from various 
causes. 

There is, in the first place, the influence of the 
present world — not only of its riches, its honors, 
and its pleasures, but also of its frowns and ca- 
resses. The Hebrew Christians were exposed to 

27* 



318 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



the severest persecutions. Their religious profes- 
sion demanded the sacrifice of all things, and the 
Apostle commends them in the highest terms, for 
what they had already endured in the defence of 
the Gospel. " Call to remembrance/' says he. 
" the former days, in which, after ye were illumi- 
nated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions ; 
partly, whilst ye were made a gazing-stock, both by 
reproaches and afflictions ; and partly, whilst ye 
became companions of them that were so used/' 
W e are not now called to suffer as did these primi- 
tive disciples ; still, it should be a serious question 
with us all, whether our religion would endure a 
similar test. As the followers of Christ, we are 
required not only to be professors, but e^fessors. 
A professor is one who publicly declares his attach- 
ment to Christ. A confessor, one who adheres to 
him under persecutions and trials. A confessor is 
synonymous with a martyr. Every man who is a 
professor, should be prepared also to become a con- 
fessor. " Whosoever," says Jesus, "shall confess 
me before men, him will I confess also before my 
Father which is in heaven." It is not probable 
that any of us will actually be called to martyr- 
dom ; and hence there may be no particular danger 
of apostacy from this source. The greatest danger 
of religious professors, at the present day, arises 
not from the frowns, but from the smiles of the 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 319 



world. Religion has now become popular, and it 
often adds to a mans reputation and standing to be 
in connection with the Christian Church. In gene- 
ral, the world has no particular objection to this 
step, provided only that we do not carry our reli- 
gion too far. Here lies our peril. "Woe to you 
if all men speak well of you." " The friendship 
of this world is enmity with God." How^ many 
thousands have thus virtually renounced their pro- 
fession, and denied the Saviour. Though they 
still retain their connection with the church, they 
are properly " of the world." There is nothing in 
their spirit or conduct that at all distinguishes 
them from those who make no pretensions to piety. 
I need not exhort such not to let go their profes- 
sion ; they have already belied it, and are as cer- 
tainly in the road to ruin as those who have openly 
discarded the Christian faith, or embraced another 
Gospel. Professors of religion need to be most 
earnestly cautioned here. How many in their 
eagerness to secure the favor of the world, have 
let go the crown of life. They want " to go gen- 
teelly to heaven," and have learned the art of so 
accommodating their religion to a God-hating 
world, that the offence of the cross has with them 
entirely ceased. Oh, how difficult it is to remain 
proof against the world's flatteries. When all 
things glide along smoothly, then is the time for 
special watchfulness and prayer. 



S20 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



" Far more the treacherous calm I dread, 
Than tempests bursting o'er my head." 

The Hebrew Christians were in danger, not only 
on account of the persecutions to which they were 
exposed, but also from the influence of false teach- 
ers, and the imposing rites of the ancient religion. 
There was everything in the system of Judaism, 
from which they had been converted, to render it 
attractive. It had the sanction of antiquity. It 
had been founded amid the most remarkable mani- 
festations of the divine presence and glory. It 
commended itself to the senses by the most splen- 
did ritual and ceremonies. Christianity, on the 
other hand, had no such recommendations. Its 
founder was the despised Nazarene ; its origin was 
but of recent date; its rites were few and simple: 
its ministers a company of fishermen ; its disciples 
the poor and the illiterate. In all this there was 
but little to strike the senses, or to fall in with the 
pride of man. How easily was it for the enemies 
of the Gospel to institute a comparison that would 
tend to throw 7 dishonor on the Christian religion, 
and thus lead the members of the Christian church 
to relapse into the religion of their fathers. 

Christians, at the present day, are not unfre- 
quently exposed to similar temptations. There is 
Romanism, with its boasted antiquity, its splendid 
cathedrals, its pompous ceremonies, its magnificent 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 321 



vestments, its enchanting music, its array of priests 
— -all calculated to captivate the mind, and draw it 
away from u the simplicity that is in Christ." How 
many have thus been led to make shipwreck of 
faith, and fall back to that system of corruption, 
superstition and idolatry which, for so many cen- 
turies, has been permitted to enslave the mind of 
man, and shut out the light of the glorious Gospel. 
This defection has, in most cases, not been sudden, 
but gradual. It began with the errors of Pusey- 
isin, and ended in all the abominations of Roman- 
ism. It meant, in the first place, only to correct 
the abuses of Protestantism ; it talked of its " dis- 
eases," its " divisions," its " baldness ;" it spoke of 
" the great and the beautiful" that attach them- 
selves to Catholicism ; it spoke of its sacramental 
grace and baptismal regeneration ; it multiplied its 
rites and festivals ; it introduced its Gothic archi- 
tecture with its "dim religious light;" it sneered 
at the preciseness of Puritanism, and scoffed at 
religious revivals — all the while, how r ever, pretend- 
ing that it had no intention whatever to go back 
to Rome ; but one departure from the truth is 
commonly followed by another, until every dis- 
tinctive principle of Protestantism is sacrificed, 
and we are thrown back into the very arms of 
"the Mother of Abominations." Alas! what. sad 
havoc has thus been made of some who were once 



322 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



regarded as among the brightest ornaments of the 
Protestant faith. We need to be continually on 
our guard against this Romanizing tendency. It 
is one of the great perils of the times, and many 
an unwary mind, we fear, is yet destined to fall 
into the snare. It comes to you like a wolf in 
sheep's clothing— in the garb of innocence and 
sanctity. It professes a high veneration for the 
Fathers, quotes largely from their productions, 
and claims itself to be the early Christianity of 
the Church. Take care of the deceiver ; for while 
he promises you freedom, he brings you into mis- 
erable bondage. Examine him closelv, and the 
cloven foot will be visible, and you will at once 
recognize him, not as an angel of light, but as the 
child of hell 

But if w 7 e are in no danger from this source, we 
may be from others. There is a system of religion 
which, though baptized with the name of Pro- 
testantism, has expunged from its creed almost 
every article of the evangelical faith. It has the 
arrogance to set up its boasted wisdom even above 
the teachings of revelation. It will know nothing 
of mystery ; it utterly discards what it calls the 
antiquated doctrines of total depravity, of vica- 
rious atonement, of spiritual regeneration, and of 
an eternal retribution. It is a religion of mere 
speculation, of mere morality, and of contemptible 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



823 



self-righteousness — just such a religion as falls in 
with all the natural pride of the human heart, and 
which deifies the creature in place of the adorable 
Creator. Poor Germany, the very cradle of the 
Reformation, the land where Luther and his noble 
associates achieved their wonderful conquest — how 
have its churches been desolated by the blighting 
influence of its prevailing Rationalism. Of the 
thousands of ministers that abound in that land 
of science, how 7 few are there whose feet are 
planted on the rock, and who remain true to the 
faith of their ancestors. 

The Infidelity of the present day is of the most 
insidious character, and presents another source of 
danger. Unlike that of former ages, it comes to 
us in the garb of polish and refinement. u It re- 
volts at the vulgarity of Tom Paine, and the inde- 
cency of Gibbon, and it admits much that Voltaire 
and Hume denied. It affects to admire the beauty 
and the grandeur of Christianity ; it even adopts 
the terminology of its expositions, and allows to 
the Bible the loftiest place in the scale of universal 
inspiration. Like Rosseau, it can dwell with rap- 
ture on the contemplation of the character of Jesus, 
and it would not disturb the faith of those who 
have neither the scholarship nor the leisure to take 
in the most comprehensive views which the new 
' lights of the age* have propounded." " It does 



824 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



not seek to brand the Bible as a forgery, but only 
to modify or explain away its claims. It allows 
the inspired books much in literary glory and 
aesthetic brightness, but denies them a monopoly 
of such qualities." 

Much of our current literature is deeply impreg- 
nated with this scepticism. You can scarcely take 
up one of our secular papers that is not more or 
less tinctured with it. Its influence is the most 
seductive. Many have almost unconsciously had 
their faith thus undermined ; and though, perhaps, 
not prepared utterly to discard the Christian sys- 
tem, have substituted in its place a mere baptized 
form of infidelity. 

Hold fast, then, to your profession. Cleave 
closely to the great and distinguishing doctrines of 
the Gospel; and, if necessary, contend ever " ear- 
nestly for the faith once delivered to the saints/' 
However humiliating and offensive that faith may 
be to the unsanctified mind, it is the only system 
that is adapted to its wants, and that can ever 
purify our earth from the evils under which it has 
so long groaned. It was the preaching of what 
has been designated as % * the doctrines of grace," 
that gave to the ministry of Whitefield, of Ed- 
wards, of Payson, and of others Avhom (xod so 
signally honored, all its power. Nothing but the 
truth as it is in Jesus has ever yet been found 
adequate to effect in man a moral regeneration. 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



325 



Hold fast, too, to the experience and power of 
godliness. Let not your religion be one of mere 
theory, mere profession, mere form. See that 
Christ is truly " formed within you the hope of 
glory;" keep your heart with all diligence; for- 
sake not your first love ; guard against the first 
indications of spiritual declension. If you begin 
to backslide in heart, you will probably soon back- 
slide in life. Let the fire of heaven be continually 
burning upon your altar. Live in daily commu- 
nion with God — live above the world — live in the 
atmosphere of heaven. 

Hold fast to the precepts and institutions of the 
Gospel, "walking in all the commandments and 
ordinances of the Lord blameless." Let your life 
accord, in all respects, with your principles and 
professions. Avoid the very " appearance of evil." 
Let your example be one in which the world can 
find no flaw. "Forsake not the assembling of 
yourselves together, as the manner of some is." 
See that your place is regularly filled in the sanc- 
tuary — see that the fire on the domestic altar never 
goes out — see that the closet daily witnesses your 
devout aspirations after heaven, and your earnest 
pleadings for the triumph of the kingdom of Christ 
- — see that your children have early affixed to them 
the seal of the everlasting covenant, and that they 
are trained up for God and his church. As a pro- 

28 



326 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



fessor of religion, you have given yourself wholly 
away to Christ. Whether you live, therefore, live 
to the Lord, or whether you die, die to the Lord. 

II. Let us now attend to the motive or encour- 
agement by which the Apostle enforces his admo- 
nition. "Seeing then that we have a great high 
priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the 
Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." 

The allusion here is to the high priest under the 
Jewish economy. It devolved upon him to sacri- 
fice and to intercede for the whole nation. Once 
a year, on the great day of atonement, after having 
slain the victim, he entered with the blood into 
the holy of holies, sprinkled it upon the mercy- 
seat, and there plead in behalf of those whom he 
represented. 

Thus the Son of God, having sacrificed himself 
upon the cross, and made an all-sufficient atone- 
ment for sin, entered into the temple — not made 
with hands — into the heaven of heavens, there to 
" appear before God for us." 

Now, it is in view of this fact that the Apostle 
admonishes his Hebrew brethren to hold fast the 
profession which they had made. 

The force of this motive will appear from the fol- 
lowing considerations : 

1. You need not let go your profession. The 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



327 



priesthood of Christ secures to you all necessary 
assistance and support. What though in your- 
selves you are both guilty and weak, in him there 
is everlasting righteousness and strength. What 
though you are exposed to persecution, to tempta- 
tion, and to various scenes of trial, his grace is 
amply sufficient to sustain you under all. You 
may go to him with the fullest confidence, and 
with the assurance of the warmest sympathy; 
"for we have not a high priest who cannot be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was 
in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. 
Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of 
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to 
help in time of need." Carry your sorrows and 
complaints all to him. He pleads your cause be- 
fore the throne of heaven, sprinkled with his own 
atoning blood ; nor does he plead in vain. " Him 
the Father heareth always." You need his grace 
daily, and that grace is ready at all times to be 
extended to those who ask for it in the name of 
the interceding Mediator. 

2. Further; to renounce your Christian profes- 
sion would evince the basest ingratitude. How infi- 
nite are your obligations to the once suffering, but 
now exalted Redeemer. How precious the sacri- 
fice which he made for you, and how matchless 
the kindness which he has shown to you. He 



328 HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



left the glories of heaven for a world of pollution 
and guilt — the adorations of angels for the scoffs 
and insults of rebel men. He opened his breast 
to the stroke that was ready to fall on you, and 
suffered the just for the unjust, that you might be 
brought to God. He wept that you might smile, 
and died that you might live forever ; and though 
he has long since passed through the rugged path 
that had been marked out before him, and has en- 
tered upon his throne of glory, his heart of benevo- 
lence still remains the same. The same interest 
that he felt for sinners when he rolled in agony in 
the garden, and hung bleeding on the cross, he 
feels now. He " ever liveth to make intercession 
for us;" and, as our great High Priest, bears us 
continually on his breast, ready to afford us all 
needful sympathy and aid. And will you deny 
such a Saviour ? Will you be ashamed of his 
name ? Will you abandon his cause ? Will you 
betray him into the hands of his foes ? and that, 
too, after you have vowed eternal fidelity, and 
called upon heaven and earth to witness the sacred 
engagement ! Oh, the blackness of such ingrati- 
tude ! Sooner let my right hand forget its cun- 
ning ; sooner let my tongue cleave to the roof of 
my mouth ; sooner let this bounding heart cease to 
beat than that I should be guilty of such baseness. 
3. To renounce your profession would be as un- 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



329 



reasonable as it would be ungrateful. The religion 
of the gospel is the only religion that can sanctify 
and save the soul. There is but one High Priest 
to plead our cause — but one Saviour and inter- 
cessor. If you are not saved through Christ, to 
whom else will you look for salvation ? To what 
other name under heaven can you trust but his ? 
What other gospel but his will you embrace ? 
Will you take refuge to Judaism ? to Mohamedan- 
ism ? to Paganism ? or to any of the corrupt forms 
of Christianity ? Or are you prepared at once to 
plunge into all the gloom and horror of infidelity — 
to persuade yourself that there is no redeeming 
Saviour — no sanctifying spirit — no resurrection to 
life and glory ? Will you give up the sure word 
of prophecy for the bewildering conjectures of your 
own reason? the all-perfect righteousness of Jesus 
for your own defective virtue ? the glorious hopes 
of the gospel for an eternal sleep, or rather for 
eternal darkness and despair? "Lord, to whom 
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal 
life." 

M Depart from thee? 'tis death — 'tis more — 
7 Tis endless ruin, deep despair P 

4. But this is not all. To renounce the system 
of the Gospel, is to expose yourself, not only to 
certain ruin, but to a condemnation of unutterable 
aggravation. " If any man draw back," says God, 

28* 



330 HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 

" my soul shall have no pleasure in him." " It is 
impossible for those who were once enlightened, 
and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were 
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted 
the good word of God, and the powers of the 
world to come ; if they shall fall away to renew 
them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify 
to themselves the Son of God, and put him to an 
open shame." Such an apostacy would seal the 
doom of the soul forever. Not that any true 
Christian will ever be suffered to fall so as to 
perish ; for, says the Apostle, " we are not of them 
that draw back to perdition, but believe to the 
saving of the soul." Yet the Christian is con- 
stantly liable to fall, and can be preserved only 
by continued watchfulness. Many, too, who have 
professed Christianity, and who appeared to be 
Christians, have, in the end, turned out apostates. 
Every approach to apostacy should, therefore, be 
most carefully avoided. When a man begins to 
decline, there is no telling where he will stop. One 
step may quickly lead on to another, until he places 
himself beyond the precincts of hope, and sinks 
at last into all the accumulated woes of such as 
have trodden under foot the Son of God, and done 
despite to the Spirit of grace, and accounted the 
blood of the covenant — an unholy thing. How 



HOLDING FAST OTJR PROFESSION. 331 



awful the doom of one who thus apostatizes and 
perishes ! 

Hold fast, then, your profession, Christian, unto 
the end. The struggle may often be severe, but 
remember it is short. Every hour brings you 
nearer to your blissful home. Soon the shadows 
will fly, the clouds will disperse, and upon your 
vision will be poured the brightness of eternal day. 
The great high priest of your profession, your 
forerunner, beckons you forward. The "great 
cloud of witnesses" all cherish towards you the 
tenderest sympathy, and are ready to hail you on 
the plains of immortality. Gird up the loins of 
your mind, and be sober, and hope unto the end ; 
for you have need of patience, that after you have 
suffered the will of God, you may inherit the 
promises. 

But some of my hearers have never yet made a 
profession. And what, my friends, does this im- 
ply ? You profess no love to God. Are you, then, 
his enemy? You profess no repentance for sin. 
Are you, then 9 impenitent? You profess no re- 
liance on Christ as a Saviour. Do you, then, reject 
the offer of his grace ? You profess to have no in- 
terest in the redemption of the Gospel. Are you, 
then, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and 
strangers to the covenants of promise ? 

"Iam no professor" you say. And do you sup- 



332 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 



pose that that fact releases you from the claims 
of the Gospel? A man makes no pretensions 
either to truth or to honesty, does that afford him 
license to speak and act as he please ? You ought 
both to possess and profess religion. If one man 
may refuse, then may all. There is no more obli- 
gation resting upon me, in this respect, than there 
is upon you. 

"But it is such a serious matter to make a reli- 
gious profession." It is — but, then, is it not also 
a serious matter to decline? 

" But there are many who make a profession 
that are no better than myself." The fact we shall 
not attempt to dispute ; what is this, however, but 
an attempt to justify your sins by the sins of 
others ? Must not every one give an account of 
himself to God? 

"But I can be saved without a profession." 
Perhaps you can, and perhaps you cannot. All 
depends on the circumstances of your case. If 
the penitent thief went to heaven without a con- 
nection with the visible church of Christ, that 
surely can afford no encouragement of hope for 
you. Christ requires not only that we believe in 
him, but also that we make an open avowal of our 
faith. " He that believeth and is baptized, shall 
be saved ; he that believeth not shall be damned." 
" With the heart, man believeth unto righteous- 



HOLDING FAST OUR PROFESSION. 333 



ness ; and with the mouth, confession is made unto 
salvation." And what God has joined together, 
let no man put asunder. First of all, embrace 
Christ by a true and hearty faith, and then avail 
yourself of the next opportunity publicly to ac- 
knowledge him before the world. Only do what 
you mean to do, qaicMy. 



SERMON XVII. 



TRIUMPH OYER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

Oh ! death, where is thy sting ? Oh ! grave, where is thy victory ? — 
1 Corinthians xv. 55. 

This triumphant exclamation was called forth 
in view of the complete victory which the Son of 
God achieves over the terrors and the ravages of 
death. The language, with some slight variation, 
is borrowed from the prophecy of Hosea, (xiii. 14,) 
" Oh ! death, I will be thy plagues. Oh ! grave, I 
will be thy destruction." The full realization of 
this triumph will take place at the general resurrec- 
tion, when the last enemy of the Christian shall be 
destroyed, and when this corruptible shall put on 
incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immor- 
tality. 

But though the victory will not be complete until 
then, the song of triumph is commenced already. 
The moment we become united to Christ as " the 
resurrection and the life," that moment the sting 
of death is rendered harmless, and we may look 
forward with the prospect of a glorious conquest. 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 335 

There is nothing that more highly commends to 
us the religion of the gospel, than the triumph it 
affords over death. There is in all men an instinc- 
tive dread of dissolution — a dread which is greatly 
aggravated by the consciousness of guilt, and the 
premonitions of future wrath. We read of those 
who through fear of death are all their life-time 
subject to bondage. Men suffer far more from this 
cause than they are commonly willing to own. 
Many never allow themselves to dwell on the sub- 
ject of their mortality, and carefully avoid every 
thing that may tend to remind them of the fact. 
" One of the kings of France gave orders that 
death should never be mentioned in his hearing. 
Catharine, the Empress of Russia, forbade funeral 
processions to pass the street near her palace, and 
required all burials to be performed in the night/ 5 
The tolling of a bell, the sight of a corpse, or an open 
grave, will sometimes agitate the guilty mind with 
the most painful forebodings. " The wicked often 
find a prognostic to their fate in a dream, in the 
howling of a dog, the croaking of a raven, the 
ticking of an insect, and a thousand other absurdi- 
ties." 

We know that with some there is a most fatal 
insensibility both to death and its momentous con- 
sequences. This state of mind is reached only by 
a course of persevering transgression, and the des- 



/ 



836 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

parate resistance of God's truth and Spirit. And 
yet, even in those cases where men appear to be 
indifferent to this matter while they are in health, 
we, not unfrequently, discover the most serious 
misgivings and painful alarm, as they approach the 
eventful hour. Death is found to be a very differ- 
ent thing in reality from what it was in anticipa- 
tion. Their boasted confidence at last fails, and 
with a " certain fearful looking for of judgment and 
fiery indignation," they close their probation on 
earth, and pass away to render in their account to 
God. 

We need a religion, my hearers, that will enable 
us to contemplate our dissolution with composure, 
and that will sustain us in the last conflict. Such 
is the religion of the cross. It teaches us not only 
how to live, but how to die. " Mark the perfect 
man, and behold the upright ; for the end of that 
man is peace." " Blessed are the dead who die 
in the Lord." " Precious in the sight of the Lord 
is the death of his saints." 

The power of true religion to sustain the spirit 
in the hour of death, is most abundantly confirmed 
by the experience and testimony of the pious in 
every age of the world. 

Jacobs when about to die, assembled his sons 
round him, and after having delivered to them his 
charge and his blessing, gathered up his feet, (as 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 337 

if in the act of falling asleep,) and yielded up the 
ghost. "I die/' said he, "but God shall be with 
you ; I have waited for thy salvation, 0 Lord !" 

" I know," exclaimed Job, " that my Redeemer 
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day 
upon the earth ; and though, after my skin, worms 
destroy this body, yet in my flesh, I shall see 
God." 

Moses, a short time before his death, having 
borne his testimony to the faithfulness and grace 
of God, " died in the land of Moab, according to 
the word of the Lord ;" or as some say the passage 
may be more literally rendered, " upon the mouth 
of the Lord." Hence, the Rabbins tell us that 
u God extracted his soul with a kiss ;" and hence, 
also a sacred poet of modern times :- — 

" Like Moses, to thyself convey, 
And kiss my raptured soul away." 

How calmly does Joshua speak of his approach- 
ing decease, and like his predecessor, bear his tes- 
timony to the kindness of divine providence, and 
the truth of the divine promises. " Behold this day 
I am going the way of all the earth, and ye know 
in all your hearts, and in all your souls that not 
one thing hath failed of all the good things which 
the Lord your God spake concerning you ; all are 
come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath 
failed thereof." 

29 



338 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 



" Though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death/' said David, " I w r ill fear no evil ; 
for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me." 

" Thou shalt guide me/' said Asaph, " with thy 
counsel, and aftenvaxd receive me to glory. My 
flesh and my heart faileth ; but God is the strength 
of my heart, and my portion forever." 

Listen to the language of Simeon. No sooner 
had he embraced the infant Saviour, than we hear 
the aged pilgrim exclaiming, " Lord, now lettest 
thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy 
word ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 

Of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, it is re- 
corded, that surrounded with his blood-thirsty per- 
secutors, and amid a volley of stones, " he fell 
asleep? What a delightful representation of a 
good man's death — asleep in Jesus ! 

Peter speaks of his decease with the utmost 
composure. He regarded it simply as putting off 
this tabernacle of clay, just as we lay aside our 
garments when we retire to rest. " I think it 
meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you 
up, by putting you in remembrance ; knowing 
that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even 
as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me." 

Paul felt assured that as for him to live was 
Christ, to die would be gain. As the time of his 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 339 

departure drew nigh, and he was ready to be offered 
up a sacrifice to the cause he had so nobly main- 
tained, he breaks forth in the exulting song, — " I 
have fought a good fight; I have finished my 
course ; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there 
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which 
the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at 
that day." 

And how many, in subsequent ages, have de- 
rived from the Gospel, in their last moments, the 
same supports and consolations. Witness the 
noble army of martyrs. One, as he turns to his 
fellow-sufferer, says, " Be of good cheer, my bro- 
ther; we shall sup with our Lord to-night." An- 
other, embracing the stake, exclaims, "Welcome 
the cross of Christ ! welcome everlasting life !" 
And another, when his limbs were almost con- 
sumed, raising his flaming hands, sings, "None 
but Christ ! none but Christ !" 

But let us come down to later times. " See," 
said the dying Addison, u in what peace a Chris- 
tian can die !" 

" Oh," exclaimed Toplady, " how T this soul of 
mine longs to be gone ! Like a bird imprisoned 
in a cage, it longs to take its flight. Oh, that I 
had wings like a dove, then would I flee away to 
the realms of bliss, and be at rest forever ! Oh, 
that some guardian angel might be commissioned ; 



340 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

for I long to be absent from this body, and to be 
with my Lord forever." 

Wesley, when so enfeebled as scarcely to be 
able to speak, desired that all his friends around 
him would unite with him in prayer and praise. 
In feeble accents, he attempted himself to sing, 

" Fll praise my Maker while I've breath, 
And when my voice is lost in death, 
Praise shall employ my nobler powers/' 

" I have been," said Samuel Walker, as his dis- 
solution drew near, " on the wings of the cheru- 
bim ! Heaven has in a manner been opened to 
me ! I shall soon be there !" 

" How thankful," said Hervey, " am I for death! 
It is the passage to the Lord and giver of eternal 
life. Oh, welcome, welcome, welcome death ! thou 
mayest well be reckoned among the treasures of 
the Christian !" " The great conflict is over. 
Now all is done !" 

■ - 1 bless God," said Dr. Watts, " I can lie down 
at night unsolicitous, whether I awake in this 
world or the next." 

" I feel," said Law, a a sacred fire kindled in my 
soul, which will destroy everything contrary to 
itself, and burn as a flame of divine love to all 
eternity." 

Romaine, as he approached his end, and while 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 841 

still in possession of his mental powers, cried out, 
" Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ! Glory 
be to thee on high, for such peace on earth and 
good will to men." 

" This sick bed/' said the Rev. Samuel Pierce, 
"is a Bethel to me; it is none other than the 
house of God and the gate of heaven ! I can 
scarcely express the pleasures that I have enjoyed 
in this affliction. The nearer I draw to my dis- 
solution, the happier I am. It can scarcely be 
called an affliction; it is so counterbalanced with 

" Is this dying V said Dr. Cotton Mather. " Is 
this all ? Is this all that I feared when I prayed 
against a hard death ? Oh, I can bear this ! I 
can bear it ! I can bear it !" 

"People," said Dr. Gordon, "have said that 
death is frightful. I look on it with pleasure. I 
see no monsters around me. Death ! I see no 
death at my bedside. It is that benign Saviour 
waiting to take me." When told that he would 
soon be in the New Jerusalem, where there will 
be no more dying, his emphatic reply was, " There 
is none here !" How completely was death thus 
" swallowed up in victory." 

And who were the men that bore this tes- 
timony to the power of the Gospel ? Why, they 
were men of sober thought, of distinguished abil- 

29* 



342 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

ities, of nice discrimination; not the dupes of 
superstition and fanaticism, but men of careful and 
earnest investigation, accustomed to the closest 
self-examination, and who dreaded nothing more 
than the idea of self-delusion in a matter involving 
interests of such unspeakable moment. 

We might also refer you to numerous instances 
of a similar triumph over death, among Christians 
in the humbler and more retired walks of life ; for 
such experience is, by no means, peculiar to those 
of superior mental attainments, or of more ex- 
tended usefulness. Even the feeblest and most 
despised of Christ's little ones, are often favored 
in the most remarkable manner in their last con- 
flicts — displaying a moral heroism, and giving 
utterance to their holy triumphs in expressions of 
such beauty and force, that they appear to be car- 
ried entirely beyond themselves, and to have im- 
parted to them a strength altogether supernatural. 

We do not maintain that all Christians are the 
subjects of this happy experience in their dying 
moments. In the bestowment of this, as well as 
all his favors, the ways of God are often to us in- 
scrutable. Some of the best men have died with 
but little sensible comfort. Their sun, indeed, 
seems rather to have set under a cloud. Death, 
instead of being an object of desire, has been one 
of dread. We must here remember that the fear 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 343 

of death is entirely natural, and in itself innocent. 
It is, therefore, no evidence against the piety of a 
man that he shrinks from dissolution, any more 
than that he shrinks from any other evil. In some 
instances the nature of the disease is such as tends 
to becloud the intellect, and to depress the spirits, 
A constitutional melancholy may lead the mind to 
look at everything through a false medium, and to 
paint the future with imaginary evils. The be- 
liever, though he may fear death, may have no 
fear of its consequences. For wise reasons, Satan 
is sometimes permitted to make his fiercest assault 
when he knows that his time is short. But how- 
ever severe the conflict may be, the victory in the 
end is sure. Whether the believer departs in tri- 
umph, or with doubts and fears, he departs to be 
with Christ, and join the blood-washed throng 
around the throne. It is but seldom that the tried 
and tempted Christian is permitted to leave the 
world without some testimony to the divine faith- 
fulness. The cloud that may have so long ob- 
scured his vision eventually vanishes, and the 
dark valley becomes irradiated with light. It was 
so with the Rev. Dr. Scott, author of the Com- 
mentary. There were seasons when, in conse- 
quence of the disease under which he labored, and 
the temptations of the adversary, he shrunk with 
dread at the idea of dissolution. But however 



344 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

severely his faith was tried, it did not fail him. 
With J ob he could say, " Though he slay me, yet 
will I trust in him." And when the final hour 
came, " his countenance assumed a placid expres- 
sion — one might almost say, a sweet and heavenly 
smile ; and the whole appearance was more like 
that of an infant sinking into sleep than that of a 
strong man expiring." "Not one thing that he 
feared came upon him ; but every hope was real- 
ized or exceeded." 

Let us now consider the ground of the believers 
triumph over death. 

1. The Gospel imparts to us victory over death 
by affording us the /idlest assurance of a future ex- 
istence. The reflecting mind must naturally look 
forward to the consequences of death. What is 
to follow my dissolution ? What is to be the des- 
tiny of the rational, thinking principle within me ? 
Is that, too, to die with the body ? Does the 
grave bound my existence, or is there an existence 
beyond it ? And then, if I am to exist forever, 
where am I to exist ? In what portion of the uni- 
verse is my lot to be cast ? With what society 
shall I mingle ? And what shall be the nature of 
my employments? To all these questions, un- 
aided reason affords no satisfactory answ r er. 

44 The vast, the unbounded prospect lies before me, 
But shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it." 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 345 

Everything around me bears the marks of decay. 
To the eye of sense, as the beast dies, so dies 
man also. Am I, then, to return to my original 
nothing ? When once this throbbing heart ceases 
to beat, is there to be an utter and eternal extinc- 
tion of thought and feeling ? Are all my hopes 
to be blasted ? all my aspirations after a higher 
existence to be crushed ? How appalling the 
thought, and how gloomy the event of death en- 
shrouded in such mysteries ! I turn to heathen 
sages, but they can afford no solution of my 
doubts. I turn to modern infidelity, and here, 
too, all is uncertainty. Sorrowing as I now do 
without hope, I next turn to the oracles of God, 
and search there for light upon my dreary pros- 
pects. Here my difficulties are all removed. 
Here I meet with the assurance, that while the 
body returns to the dust, the spirit returns to God 
who gave it; that w^hile the spirit of the beast 
goes downward, the spirit of man goes upward. 
The Gospel of the Son of God has fully brought 
life and immortality to light. It assures me of an 
existence beyond the tomb ; and I now resign my- 
self to death, fully persuaded that to die is but to 
live, and that my removal from the scenes of 
earth, will immediately be followed by the scenes 
of eternity. 

2. I next remark : The Gospel reconciles the be- 



346 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

liever to death by removing his apprehensions of a 
future judgment. It can afford me but little com- 
fort, in my dying moments, simply to be assured 
that I am to enter upon a new existence; the ques- 
tion at once meets me. What is to be the nature of 
my existence? Is it to be one of happiness or 
misery? After death, I am told, is the judgment; 
but how can I, guilty as I am, meet my God, and 
render in to him my account? If sin bears the 
marks of his displeasure now, may it not meet 
with his displeasure hereafter ? As a sinner, what 
have I to expect from him but his eternal frown ? 
Already do I feel within me the premonitions of 
future vengeance ; and if my own heart condemn 
me, God is greater than my heart, and knoweth 
all things. Oh, it is sin that gives to death its 
sting ; but " thanks be unto God who giveth us 
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ !" By 
his death upon the cross, he has opened a way for 
my deliverance from the dreadful penalty, and my 
restoration to the divine favor. " Being justified 
by faith, we have peace with God, through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." With humble confidence I 
rest my hope upon this scheme of mercy. With a 
tearful, yet believing eye, I look up to my Media- 
tor and Advocate ; my cry of agony enters his 
ear, and moves his compassion ; and I hear him 
with a voice, sweet as the music of heaven, say- 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 347 



ing, u X, even I, am he that blotteth out thy trans- 
gression for my name's sake." What now have I 
to fear? Let the law condemn — let the enemy 
accuse — let death threaten — it is enough for me 
to know that " Christ has died;' and that through 
him I am fully absolved from the sentence of 
wrath, and reconciled to the offended majesty of 
heaven, 

"If sin be pardoned, Fm secure; 
Death has no sting beside ; 
The law gives sin its damning power, 
But Christ, my ransom, died I" 

3. The believers triumph over death is also 
based upon his prospect of complete and eternal re- 
demption. His present state is one of imperfection, 
warfare and trial. He is now a weary pilgrim in 
a strange land. He dwells in the midst of snares 
and enemies. He carries about with him a body 
of sin and death. He is surrounded with scenes 
of disorder and misery. His vision is often ob- 
structed by intervening clouds, and his best con- 
ceptions of divine truth are vague and superficial. 
Sorrow continually mingles itself with his cup of 
joy. But death introduces him into a different 
scene — a world unmarred by pollution, and unsul- 
lied by grief. There his nature shall be exalted to 
the highest perfection, and his immortal powers 
will be perpetually unfolding. Every vestige of 



348 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

sin will now be removed ; and all the former dark- 
ness that enveloped the mind be dispersed. What 
were before objects of faith, now become objects of 
vision. The ransomed spirit dwells before the throne 
of Grod and the Lamb— scenes of brightness burst 
in on every side upon its expanding vision ; all its 
desires are fully satisfied, and all its hopes realized 
in fullness of joy, and pleasures for evermore. 

Need we wonder that the dying believer, having 
in prospect such felicity, should even long for the 
hour of his release ? How insignificant must the 
brightest scenes of earth appear, compared with 
such glory. What are the transient pangs of dis- 
solution to him who can look forward to such a 
blissful termination ? 

When St. Pierre returned to France, in a ship 
that had been absent several years in the East 
Indies, he tells us, that as " the crew approached 
their native country, they were all eagerness to 
discover it. Some of them mounted the rigging ; 
some of them employed the glass. By and by, 
an exclamation was heard, * Yonder it is !' Then 
they became thoughtful and listless. But when 
they drew nearer, and began to discover the tops 
of the hills and towers that reminded them of the 
spots on which they had been brought up, they 
knew not how to contain themselves. They dressed 
themselves in their best apparel ; they brought out 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 349 

the presents designed for their connections ; but 
when the vessel entered the harbor, and they saw 
their friends and relations in the quay, stretching 
forth their hands to embrace them, many of them 
leaped from the ship, and other hands were em- 
ployed to bring it to its moorings." And if such 
ecstasy was felt in prospect of again treading their 
native soil, and of meeting cherished friends, shall 
not the believer exult as he draws near the blissful 
shores of immortality, and he there beholds the 
dear departed ones from whom he had been sepa- 
rated, waiting with open arms to receive him, and 
congratulate him on his safe arrival, where the 
storms of life are all hushed, and adieus and fare- 
wells are sounds known no more forever ? 

4, The Gospel also prepares the believer for 
death, by weakening the ties that bind him to earth. 
One of the principal causes of our reluctance to 
die, may be found in our attachment to the world. 
We are unwilling to enter upon the future state, 
because we are so strongly wedded to the present. 
The closer the tie that binds us to the objects of 
sense, the more painful must be the stroke that 
severs it. Naturally, we not only cleave to life, 
but to the world. Marred as is every thing around 
us by sin, we are still surrounded with spots of 
verdure — scenes upon which the eye delights to 
pause, and to which- the heart cleaves with fond- 
30 



850 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

ness. It is no small trial to close our vision upon 
the objects with which we have so long been fami- 
liar, to part with the possessions which we may 
have accumulated, and, especially, to bid adieu to the 
friends with whom we may have so often associated. 
What a struggle must it cost the mother to give 
up her child, not knowing, perhaps, in whose hands 
it may fall, or what may be the scenes of tempta- 
tion and affliction through which it may be called 
to pass. 

But even here the gospel affords the believer 
triumph. The eye of his faith has been turned to 
H brighter scenes in heaven." Much as he may 
be attached to this beautiful earth, his attachment 
to " the better country '' is far stronger. What- 
ever fruit he may occasionally gather from this 
desert soil, experience and observation have fully 
convinced him that here nothing is satisfying, 
nothing permanent. A voice from heaven has 
been heard, saying, "Arise, depart, this is not the 
place of your rest." He loves his friends, but he 
loves his Saviour more ; and though his separation 
from them may deeply move his sensibilities, with 
all the redeemed family of Christ he expects soon 
to be united, in bonds that can never be sundered, 
and in a world where tears will be unknown. It 
may, indeed, cost a Christian a severe conflict be- 
fore he becomes thus "crucified to the world," and 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 351 

fitted to resign himself with calmness to the stroke 
of dissolution. The discipline by which his hea- 
venly father teaches him this lesson, is often a 
long and painful one. One tie to earth is cut asun- 
der after another ; one trial of faith succeeds an- 
other, until, with the Psalmist, he can say, " My 
soul is as a weaned child/' and with confidence he 
learns to resign himself, and all around him, into 
the hands of God, prepared for joy or sorrow, for 
life or death, as infinite goodness may direct. 

5. And then, the dying believer has also the 
prospect of a glorious resurrection. 

The condition to which death reduces the human 
frame is, indeed, melancholy and humiliating. 
Think of it as it lies in the grave, a lump of inani- 
mate clay, its beauty faded, its light extinguished, 
its energies paralyzed, the prey of worms and cor- 
ruption. The form is still there, but all that once 
rendered it attractive has vanished. It mingles 
with its original dust, and becomes eventually only 
a mass of putrefaction. 

But the Gospel sheds its beams of light and 
glory even upon the tomb. It imparts hope, not 
only in reference to the soul, but also in reference 
to the body. While it extracts the sting of death, 
it robs the grave of its victory. u I am," says 
Jesus, "the resurrection and the life. Because I 
live, ye shall live also." The flesh of the believer 



352 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

" rests in hope.'* He commits it to the dust, as- 
sured not only that it shall be restored, but 
restored with additional vigor and beauty, fash- 
ioned like unto the glorious body of his divine 
head. 

" Corruption, earth, and worms, 
Shall but refine this flesh ; 
; Till my triumphant spirit comes, 
To put it on afresh." 

6. The Gospel also affords to the dying believer 
all necessary support. The event of dissolution is, 
in itself, repulsive even to the Christian. Nature 
recoils with instinctive dread from the clammy 
sweat, the wasting disease, and the dying strife. 
But however dreadful these things may be in pro- 
spect, when they actually occur, the grace of God 
proves abundantly sufficient to bear us up under 
them all. He has promised his people that he 
will never leave nor forsake them — that he will be 
with them in the fires and in the waters, and that 
as their day is, their strength shall be. How often 
have these assurances been verified in the actual 
experience of the saints. He who has given them 
grace to live, has also given them grace to die. 
The hour of feebleness and trial has proved to be 
one of unusual support and triumph. The light 
of their Saviour's face has dissipated all their 
doubts, and their souls have been favored with such 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 353 

rich communications of divine love that their cup 
of joy has even run over. " It is wonderful and 
delightful to see how God strengthens the confi- 
dence of his doubting children when he is about 
to remove them to himself Their faith, which 
had been only as a spark amidst much smoke of 
gloom, doubts and fears, blazes out then into a 
bright and cloudless flame. God seems to have 
reserved some of his richest cordials of assurance 
till that season, and they who went mourning here 
below, and often wet their couch with tears, have 
departed like the fabled swan, with a song of soft 
and heavenly music. What scenes, surpassing all 
that poetry describes or fiction imagines, are to be 
witnessed in the chambers of dying saints. How 
often has it seemed as if the veil were drawn aside, 
and the scenes of the celestial world were actually 
visible to the eye of sense ; so that some have 
gone so far as to suppose it possible that visions 
of the heavenly state have been granted to those 
w 7 ho at the time were treading upon its threshold." 

Certain it is that God will not abandon the ob- 
jects of his love when they most need his presence 
and support. Believers have been most wonder- 
fully sustained in death. If they are not filled 
with ecstasy, they are, at least, favored with peace. 
Relying on the divine faithfulness, and sweetly 
submissive to the divine will, they have yielded 

30* 



854 TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 

up their spirits into the hands of God, with the 
blessed hope that death to them would be the en- 
trance to life and joy. 

Let us serve God faithfully while we live, and 
we may be confident he will not forsake us when 
we come to die. If we wish to die triumphantly, 
we must live circumspectly. See that your inte- 
rest in Christ is well secured— that your hope is 
well founded. Let no sin burden your conscience, 
no neglected duty darken your prospects. Keep 
yourself disentangled from the world, and act con- 
tinually under the conviction that this is not your 
home. Finish the work that has been assigned to 
you, and leave not that to be done in a dying hour 
which should have been attended to before. Put 
on the whole armour of God, and be in readiness 
for the last conflict. Lay up in store a good foun- 
dation for the time to come. Make yourself fa- 
miliar with the promises of the gospel, and learn 
to trust God even in the hour of darkness and 
affliction. Meditate often upon the last scene, so 
that when death comes you may meet him, not as 
a stranger, but as an old and familiar friend. 

To those who are yet without hope in Christ, 
let me say, that you must meet death in all its 
terrors, and descend into the grave with all its 
darkness. You may now banish the thought of 
these things from your minds, but the evil day 



TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. 856 

will at length come, and it will be a melancholy 
day to you indeed. How can you struggle, un- 
aided, with the king of terrors ? How can you 
endure the poison of that sting that will penetrate 
so deep and mortally ? How can you look for the 
last time on this world, your supreme and only 
portion ? How can you enter upon that eternity 
for which you have made no preparation ? How 7 
meet that God whose frown will prove to you like 
a consuming fire ? How descend into the tomb, 
when you know that it will be, not that you may 
rise to life, but to damnation ? You may die in 
terror, or you may die in apparent tranquillity, but 
the consequences of death will be the same. u After 
death is the judgment." Ere your poor body has 
reached its destination in the earth, your spirit has 
already received its eternal sentence, the undying 
agony has commenced, and the worm of the pit 
has seized upon its prey. "The wicked is driven 
away in his wickedness," — "driven from light into 
darkness, and chased out of this world." 

Oh, who is prepared to die the death of the un- 
godly ? Who, rather, does not covet the calm and 
peaceful end of the believer? Accept, then, hea- 
ven s antidote for death. Embrace, at once, the 
provisions of divine mercy. Believe on him who 
is "the resurrection and the life." United to him, 
you live forever — separated from him, you are 
undone through eternity^ N 

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